Out of the Darkness
by st. madness
Summary: Raven: the mysterious, dangerous girl that no one can figure out or even track down. So what will Adam do when she comes straight to him? Can she be trusted? Does she have an ulterior motive? Or does she just need help? Written in Adam's POV.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: I hope you enjoy this.**

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><p>Out Of The Darkness<p>

Chapter 1

I couldn't wait for the day to be over, it has been so tedious and a _complete_ waste of my time. That is, until _she_ turned up.

We had been interviewing people to join our team of agents all day and we have found no one suitable. I'm serious, they are all either arrogant, stupid, can't fight or all of the above. We need someone who is smart, honest, experienced and someone who wouldn't think twice about sacrificing themselves to save others.

I almost spat out a mouthful of blood when she walked in. The response she caused seemed to amuse her. Alexander, James and I all stood up surprised. She nodded to us, placed her application on the table and then took the seat opposite us.

We stared at her, still in shock but after a moment took our seats again. She was a lot shorter than I expected, only reaching about 5ft 3inchs, her sleek black hair flowed just past her shoulders, she wore black skinny jeans with black leather boots to match (which I'm sure hid quite a few weapons), her blood red top showed off how skinny she was, and to top it off she wore a black leather jacket. Her deep brown eyes seemed to twinkle when the light hit them, and in them I saw mischief. I don't think she came here to cause trouble, although undoubtedly she knew her presence would cause somewhat of an uproar, the glint in her eyes just seemed to be her normal look.

"Raven" I greeted her.

"Adam" she replied. Her voice was smooth and somewhat music like. I don't know what I expected her voice to sound like, the only times I had ever seen her was when she was fighting, I know some of our agents expected her voice to be rough, hoarse and cruel.

Alexander and James still hadn't quite gotten over the shock of her being here so it was up to me to take the lead. I took her application and began to read. I must admit that it was quite impressive, but then again I didn't expect anything less. I read through it and handed it to James.

"Are you serious?" he asked me.

"Of course." I replied.

"But...well...don't you know who she is?" he said in a hushed voice. It didn't exactly work out as planned; I don't doubt that she could here every word no matter how quietly we spoke. She looked amused; James obviously didn't register the fact that I had greeted her by name so of course I knew who she was.

"Yes James, I do. And your point is?"  
>"Uhhh, um well..." I did feel a little pity for him. He is, after all the youngest out of the three of us, he has yet to learn how to hold his tongue when necessary. Alexander had recovered from his initial shock by this point, but added nothing to the conversation. He just stared at Raven, assessing her every move. And she stared right back, unflinching and not bothered by his stare or our conversation.<p>

"James, we have to look at and interview every applicant that comes in here, despite what our opinions are. And besides, today has been boring and uneventful; I do not see the harm in talking to Raven." I smiled at her and she returned it politely. "I do apologise." I said to her.

"Not to worry." By this time both James and Alexander had read her file and I am sure they found it as impressive as I did.

"You have certainly had a wide variety of jobs, these go from photographer, artist, writer, to: driver, hired gun and bodyguard. You've also got qualifications in all three sciences, English, maths, electrical engineering, several different languages, Law, business, music technology, computer science, sport, a black belt in Karate, and that isn't even a dent in all of the subjects that you have listed here, it appears like you have qualifications in almost every subject that exists. I mean some of these can be fitted in to categories but to be honest with you I'm struggling to find a link between them all." Alexander began the interview.

"There isn't really a link at all." was her reply, when we said nothing for a moment she continued, "I try a lot of different things, you would be surprised when a time comes where you need a qualification in something that would usually appear completely random and unnecessary. I've learnt that it's best to get a complete selection of qualifications, it then saves time later on."

"It also helps to remain hidden, which I'm sure is another of your reasons." I interjected. She did not reply, only smiled at me to indicate that I was correct with my assumption.  
>"But to get all of these qualifications you would have had to complete college and university several times. How have you had the time to do all that?" Oh James, so naive. She smiles at him and I think I saw in her eyes a slight spark of amusement, but it was gone again just as quickly.<p>

My guess is that she caught on to the fact that, even though he was a vampire and could have been changed centuries ago, he was indeed the youngest and least experienced. She didn't answer him and he looked at her with what I could only explain as awe. Wait _awe?_ Ok I think James has a bit of a thing for dark and dangerous here. He seemed captivated by her deep brown eyes, although he couldn't maintain eye contact for long, it was obvious he liked what he saw. Well who could blame him? She is a very beautiful. As neither of them said anything for a while, I decided I should step in, but before I could, Alexander beat me to it.

"So why is it that you decided to come here today? Did you run out of people to kill?" I looked at him sharply, _that _was uncalled for. I thought for sure that comment would offend her, but if it did she didn't show it. She just smiled and said.  
>"Honestly? Everyone appears to be in hiding." I knew she was joking around with him, even though I had no doubt that everyone was indeed hiding from her. Alexander was not amused. Just as he was about to say something, Jonathan entered.<p>

"My apologies for interrupting Adam but-" he stopped when he noticed Raven. He stared at her for a heartbeat before coming to the table where we sat, picked up and then read over her file. He placed it back on the table, crossed his arms over his chest and smiled at her. She smiled back, still remaining polite, I'm sure I wasn't the only one wondering if that was just a facade or if we profiled her completely wrong.

"You are on a trial basis; there are some terms that you will need to agree to as well as some tests, which will include a blood test and testing of your powers. I do not know your reasons for coming here today but I can only hope that it is not to cause trouble." he sounded so final, leaving no room for argument, only a fool would question him.

"You're not even going to get her to do the other tests?" go figure. _That_ was James. The tests he mentioned were to physically and mentally prepare a new recruit before they officially joined our team of agents. Jonathan however remained calm when he replied.  
>"I do not see the point as we know she will pass all of them and with flying colours no doubt, as much as we may hate to admit, she is the best candidate we've had all day." Raven said nothing; she just watched the exchange calmly. Each of us seemed to have a different opinion on what Jonathan had said.<p>

Alexander wasn't pleased but wasn't stupid enough to argue, he didn't like the idea of Raven being one of our agents. James still couldn't believe that Raven was here, I could tell from his nervous demeanour that he didn't understand why she hadn't tried to attack us yet. I was taking in everything she said and every movement she made, just as she was doing with us.

That concluded the interview and as Raven was our last candidate I accompanied her to the lab, where we would take a test of her blood which we would then use to analyse her powers. When we walked in Jimmy was analysing a sample and didn't look up as we entered. Raven visibly slowed her pace as we went through the lab; she was looking around at all of the machines and testing equipment we had. We spared no expense when it came to helping super naturals. She appeared to be tense and nervous. She had a faraway expression on her face. Whilst I didn't know what she was thinking, I felt the need to reassure her.

"You should know Raven, we mean you no harm." This seemed to knock her out of her thoughts. She was still looking at the equipment when she replied.

"That wasn't what I was thinking but thank you, that is reassuring to know. I do not mean any harm to you or your people either." On the last part of her reply she met my eyes and I knew that she was telling the truth.

"Raven, why did you decide to come here?" She hesitated; for a moment I thought she was actually going to tell me the truth.

"Is it not obvious? What do people usually go to interviews for?" well I at least think she _wanted_ to tell me the truth.

"You know what I meant."

"You already know more than anyone else knows." was her only response.

"Even your family?" I knew there probably wasn't much hope for an answer, but I had to ask. Again she hesitated before replying.

"I have no family." She said quietly.

I didn't know what to say to that. There was an undercurrent to her words that I just couldn't figure out. Did she mean that they were dead? I had a feeling that she meant more than that. She had a faraway look on her face again. I was struggling for something to say when Tom walked in. Raven had her back to the door so he wouldn't have been able to see who she was.

"Ah, Adam. Alexander said you would be in here. Is this our new agent?" he motioned to Raven.

"Yes, she is." Raven turned around just as I said, "Tom I would like you to meet Raven, Raven this is Tom. He will be training you and finding out what fighting level you are at." What surprised me was that Tom didn't look shocked or scared at the sight of Raven; my guess would have to be that Alexander had already told him.

"Well it is nice to meet you Raven." Tom said sincerely as he put his hand out for her to shake. She hesitated at first and seemed to assess his actions for a moment but then returned the gesture and shook his hand.

"Ok Adam, what do you need?" that was Jimmy; he was totally oblivious to our past conversations. He saw Raven and walked towards her with a smile on his face. He approached her and shook her hand firmly. "Well at last I get to meet you; your work amazes and confuses me at the same time. I must get a chance to talk to you about it." She just looked confused.

"My work?" she questioned. Jimmy looked to me for permission and I nodded, he would only keep pestering myself and Raven if I didn't let him speak to her about it now. He went over to his files and pulled a bulging folder out. He laid it on the desk in front of him, pulled a few sheets out and brought them back to where Raven, Tom and I were standing. He handed Raven the file and she began instantly examining it, taking everything in. The last thing she looked at was the picture of the victim. She did a double take and then leaned in to get a better look.

"What the hell? That's impossible." she muttered under her breath. "Would you allow me to look at the eyes of this victim?" she asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Why? Do you want to admire your handiwork?" Jimmy asked still with a smile on his face.

"No, I didn't do this; I wish to see the eyes so I can work out whoever did and how on earth they achieved the impossible."

"I know how it was done but, are you sure you didn't do it? I mean it's in the shape of a raven- " He began but she cut him off.

"Yes I realise that." she snapped. "And I am absolutely sure I didn't kill this person, I would remember."

"You remember every person you have killed?" Jimmy asked, disbelief colouring his tone.

"Of course." She said and Jimmy frowned.

"How?" He questioned.

"How can I not? I remember every detail about the lives I took. Every face, every name, the time, place and date of their death and details of every family member and friend they had."

"That is one hell of a lot to remember." Jimmy replied astonished.

"Not really. So can I look at the eyes or not?" Her patience was wearing thin. Jimmy shrugged.

"Sure." He said as he lead her over to a table with operating equipment on it, pulled a jar down from a shelf, took the eyes out and laid them on the table in front of her. She accepted the rubber gloves he offered her and began examining the eyeball. Although not many would, I actually believed her when she said she hadn't done it.

She picked up a scalpel from the table and brought it to the eye. She gently ran the sharp edge along the eye, and then she pulled the tip upwards revealing what she had discovered. The eye had a very thin extra layer on it. She cut it and pulled the eye out of it. The cover looked like a contact lens but it covered the entire surface of the eye so you wouldn't detect it. There was a black Raven on it so, when it was over the eye, it would appear that the pupil had changed shape.

"Rookie mistake." Raven commented.

"Indeed, I didn't spot it right away but after it was decomposing at its regular rate even though it was in liquid to preserve it I knew I needed to take a closer look." Jimmy explained.

"Obviously whoever thought up this plan wasn't so smart after all." Raven said.

"So it really wasn't you trying to make it look like you changed the shape of someone's pupils?" Jimmy asked again just to be sure.

"No, I'm kind of insulted that you would think I'd do something so tacky though."

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked her as he put the eyes back in the jar.

"I hate false appearances, if I wanted people to think that I had changed the shape of someone's pupils, then as impossible as it is, I would attempt to actually change the shape. Not just make it appear so." She said to him.

Silence fell; no one really knew what to say to that.

"Come on then, we have much to do. Raven it is time to do your tests now." she grimaced but did not complain. Both Jimmy and Raven stripped their gloves and disposed of them. Jimmy gestured for Raven to sit on the medical table whilst he got the needle ready.

"Just relax your arm" he instructed. She did as he said but as soon as the needle came in contact with her arm, the needle snapped. And I meant literally it _snapped_! We all looked to her for some kind of explanation.

"My apologies, I forgot about that." Forgot?

"That's ok, don't worry about it." Jimmy said, whilst he turned around to prepare another needle Raven took a large, thick knife out of her boot which confirmed my earlier suspicions. I wonder what else she has stashed in her boots.

Jimmy was certainly surprised and froze instantly when he turned back around and saw the knife in her hand, but she did not attack anyone.

"Ready?" she asked Jimmy. He looked confused and she gestured to her arm. She lowered the knife to her arm and broke her skin with the point; she did not wince at the pain although any normal person would. After getting over his initial shock, Jimmy lowered the needle to the hole in her skin that the knife was still keeping open and filled the syringe with her blood. As soon as he removed the needle Raven followed suit and removed the knife, as soon as she did so, her arm healed. And after wiping away the blood that trickled down her arm, there was no mark or trace that could prove that had ever happened. However, with us all being super naturals, this is nowhere near the weirdest thing we've seen.

"Good luck trying to make anything of it." Raven said, gesturing to her blood.

"What do you mean?" Both Jimmy and I asked as one.

"Many have tried to make sense of it, but a load of idiotic scientists messed with it and since then I haven't come across a single soul that can make heads or tails of it." She explained.

"Scientists messed with your DNA? How long ago did this happen?" I asked, I wasn't trying to be nosy I just wanted to know who could be so stupid, not to mention that messing with someone's DNA is against the law, even in the super natural community. She paused as she thought for a moment.

"I'm not entirely sure how long ago it was. Maybe five or six years?"

"Five or six _years_? Well who are they? And do you have any idea where they are? If so, then we can find out what they did and who else they did this to. They need to be stopped." I said to her, shocked by the idea that they could still be experimenting on people's DNA.

"Well I think finding them will be quite difficult and a waste of time." She stated.

"How so?" I asked.

"Well their main goal was to create weapons out of people. I was the only successful subject at the time. However, they really should've thought ahead." I didn't completely understand and looking at Jimmy's and Tom's faces, it appeared that I wasn't the only one.

She rolled her eyes at our cluelessness but continued anyway.

"They were creating _weapons_ out of us, weapons of _destruction_. They just didn't for see my...opinion of what they were trying to turn me in to. When I realised what was going on I lost control and went in to a blinding rage. I killed them all and destroyed all of their equipment, their laboratory was in the middle of the ocean so they could stay undetected and they kept all their notes on paper. So when I got angry I ended up sinking the lab and all of their notes were destroyed." She paused and looked down at her hands. It was obvious that she regretted her actions that day, although I am unsure whether she regrets killing them or not. "The rest of the subjects were humans, they didn't survive the altercations to their DNA." She added.

Wow. Raven has only been here for a couple of hours and already I have learnt so much about her. I have no doubts that she will still remain a mystery to us for some time though.

We didn't talk any more about the scientists or the laboratory; although I'm sure we were all curious, but she had opened up to us and we didn't want to push it. Jimmy finished the tests and I began to fill Raven in on some things she would need to know about working here.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review! Thank you.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Out of the Darkness

Chapter 2

It didn't take long for the news of Raven working here to spread. There were certainly some mixed opinions about it, some thought it was a practical joke, others thought that our agency was turning evil, and some even thought she was bribing us! But needless to say, not many were happy about it.

I have had absolutely no peace the past couple of days since Raven arrived at that interview. There have been threats of many kinds, some to quit, some to sue us if Raven were to hurt them and they even threatened to kill her. _Yeah_ because they really had a chance of succeeding at that. Well maybe if they all joined forces…that is not something I am willing to think about though. She seemed unbothered by all of the threats, didn't make a fuss over anything, did all of the necessary tests without arguing or complaining, read over and signed the contract without changing a thing, she even agreed to combat training. Even though we all know that she doesn't really need to be trained. Honestly, I think she's just humouring us on that one.

Her fighting ability amazes me to no end. How can someone be graceful and yet fierce at the _same time?_ I am not the only one who is astounded by this. Her fighting is drawing attention, she is currently in the gym sparing with Tom and was managing to prove herself without hurting him so she obviously isn't as ruthless as we first thought. I wonder what else we were wrong about.

I was standing in the corridor, watching through the one way glass as a crowd began to form. At the front stood James, Alexander, Jonathan and myself. Close behind us was Jimmy and then behind him were some of our other agents. Raven had pinned Tom down countless times already, he is our best fighter and it doesn't even look like she is putting all of her effort in to beating him. She doesn't gloat when she is victorious. Just gets back up and waits patiently for further instructions from Tom.

I worry about some of our other agents watching Raven fight. There are already many concerns about her intentions to come here and it has struck up quite a large amount of fear throughout the agency. Word gets around quick in a place like this, and with even just a few agents watching her; this could cause quite a few more problems for me to deal with.

I wouldn't bother with this much hassle for just anyone, but she is _Raven_, _the_ Raven. We have been following any activity that is related to her in the slightest for years now and we haven't managed to figure her out. It didn't help matters that she just disappeared for almost two years. Some thought she was dead. But somehow I knew she wasn't, but the Demons that she would usually be killing began to mount up, they were getting a little cocky at the thought that she could finally be dead and therefore couldn't ruin their evil schemes. But then, just like that two months ago she showed up on the radar again and killed any Demon that posed a threat, the world was set back in to order again. Back to how it used to be before she disappeared, and had every Demon with half a brain terrified of her once again.

Inside the gym Tom was obviously declaring the combat training over. Raven nodded once, shook his hand, picked up her bag and headed to the showers. The crowd began to disperse as the training was now over.

"Everyone who is here in the conference room in 10 minutes please. Spread the word." I said to the retreating crowd. I didn't turn around to face them when I spoke nor did I doubt that they would do as I asked. There was just James, Alexander, Jonathan, Jimmy and myself left when Tom came out of the gym.

"She is as we thought." James said.

"No, she is much better." I corrected.

"She was holding back so she wouldn't hurt me. She is the best fighter that I have ever come across, and that is _including _the vampire agents." Tom said.

"I understand that she was holding back in order not to harm you. But what else is she holding back on?" Alexander said. "We still do not know her intensions."

"Alexander just because she didn't go all out with fighting doesn't mean she is up to no good. Every other agent that we have had here fought to the best of their ability in order to prove themselves. Raven doesn't need to do that." I said.

"Why do you trust her so much?" Alexander asked me sharply.

"Well you are basing your unease on theory's and rumours. I am basing my opinion on what I have seen so far."

"So you think everything is just that, rumours?" He asked me.

"No I am sure some of it is true. I mean we just saw that she is an incredibly skilled fighter. But it would be unfair to judge her on what we have heard and not by our own observations." I replied.

"You could be endangering a lot of people with this decision Adam. Many of our people are threatening to quit or sue us." He said.

"I have her word that she means us no harm. And I will speak to our other agents. I will properly introduce Raven to them when she comes out of the showers."

"Her word means nothing to me. How do you know she is not lying? And even if she isn't going to kill our work force then she may have a different plan." He argued.

"Like _what_?" I challenged.

"I don't know, maybe to gain information. How do you know she isn't evil?" He demanded.

"I would have sensed that." Jonathan said, speaking up for the first time. Alexander paused, he knows better than to argue with Jonathan.

"Ok so she's not evil. But you must find this even a little bit odd Jonathan. I just think we should be careful. And maybe demand some information. Like why she disappeared for two years." He said.

"I don't think demanding information will get us very far." Jonathan replied. "And as for her disappearance, have you simply tried asking her nicely?" He added.

"Er well no, I haven't had a chance to speak with her since the interview." He said.

"Well here's your chance." Jonathan said looking behind me and Alexander. At that moment Raven came round the corner and walked up to us. "You didn't feel like announcing your presence?" He asked her.

"You knew I was there." She replied.

"You have been standing there this entire time listening to our conversation?" Alexander demanded. He turned back to Jonathan, "You see? This is exactly what I mean, you expect us to trust her and yet she does this?"

"Well it was about me. I wanted to know what was going to be said. You realise that you could have just said all that to my face? I do not get offended easily and I may have answered a few of your questions. You speak of me being untrustworthy and yet I cannot trust you to speak with me when you so obviously have a problem with me being here. We _are_ adults after all." Raven said. I couldn't believe she had stood up to him like that, no one is ever that brave, Alexander turned and glowered at her.

"Fine. Why are you here?" Alexander said to her.

"I needed a job. Even I need to earn a living you know." She said calmly whilst looking in to his eyes. He was still fuming.

"Why not somewhere else? You have an impressive résumé; it can't exactly be hard getting a job." He said.

"Getting the job isn't the problem, it's keeping it. I seem to make people…uneasy."

"Why did you disappear for two years and where did you go?" He asked.

"Personal reasons." Raven replied after a slight pause.

"Why did you disappear for two years and _where_ _did you go?_" He repeated raising his voice.

"_Personal_. _Reasons_." Raven replied still calm. "Move on, pick a different question." Alexander huffed.

"Are the rumours true?" He asked letting that topic drop although I knew he wouldn't stop searching for the answer.

"I'm afraid you will have to elaborate. There are so many. I probably haven't even heard them all."

"Did you kill your own soul mate?" He asked her. Now that was getting a little _too_ personal.

"You don't have to answer that-" I began but Alexander cut me off.

"Do you want to know what kind of creature we are dealing with here or not?" He asked.

"Did you just say _creature?_" Raven asked. Alexander looked back at her.

"Yes I did. What's a matter, are you _offended_?" He mocked her. Her eyes grew dark.

"Listen to me. I agreed to answer some of your questions as to clear the air a bit. That obviously is _not_ working. I do not have to tell you anything about my life and at this rate you will hear nothing else about me. As for the creature comment, I have been called _much_ worse. I really don't know your problem with me but whatever it is just get over it. I don't know what you have heard about me but it's obviously everything bad that has ever been said. You shouldn't believe everything you hear." She said. Alexander looked stunned. Raven's eyes returned back to their normal colour again.

"Did anyone else see her eyes change colour?" Alexander asked staring wide eyed at her.

"They do that sometimes. Mainly when I lose my temper. I apologise. Some of what you have heard is probably true. I will give you one piece of advice though, if you ever see my eyes turn completely black and my anger is directed at you, then get the hell out of the building as fast as you can and keep running." She said. Alexander looked stunned; for once he had nothing to say.

"Do they turn black often?" Jonathan asked.

"Not any more. On very rare occasions they still do. Sometimes my powers can be difficult to control. They become over whelming. I have managed to get better control on my anger recently and that has helped to control my powers. It got to a point where it was dangerous for me to be around people." She admitted, looking at the ground.

"Is that what you were doing for two years? Because you had that much power?" Jonathan asked.

"That was the time when I was at my worst yes. But that was not my entire reason for being away." She replied calmly.

There was a brief pause, she had half answered the question Alexander asked but I didn't want to push her in case she completely shut us out.

"Raven, if you would like to follow me then I can introduce you to the rest of the work force." I said to her. She nodded and followed me. James, Alexander, Jimmy and Tom went off to deal with other business so it was just Raven and myself heading towards the conference room. When we were nearly there she pulled me aside.

"Look if I'm causing too many problems here then I can leave. You just have to say the word and I'll go." She said sincerely.

"Its fine, I may not know your entire reason for being here but you deserve a chance, and that is what you will get. I will make sure of it." She nodded and I lead her in to the conference room. It was filled with all of our agents, so it was pretty packed, everyone stopped talking the instant that they saw Raven and just stared at her. "Everyone, thank you for coming. As I'm sure most of you already know, this is Raven. She is our new agent, I wanted to take this time for a proper introduction to resolve any uneasiness." I addressed the room. All was silent. Everyone was staring at Raven, assessing her, and she matched each pair of eyes calmly as she leant causally against the wall.

Suddenly Raven's head snapped to the left and every pair of eyes in the room followed the movement. Raven straightened up and then a little girl appeared in the room and ran towards her. She crouched down, took a lock of the little girl's black hair and smelt it.

"Fire demons." Raven concluded. "How many?" She asked the little girl.

"Five." She answered in a small voice. Raven nodded, stood and moved in front of the little girl so she could protect her. Just then five flames appeared in the room, revealing the demons. As soon as they saw Raven protecting the little girl, as one they all shot fire at her. But Raven was ready for them. She held one hand out in front of her and water shot out from her palm and intercepted the fire. She then held her other hand up, guiding the water so it formed a tidal wave and crashed over the demons. With their fire temporarily disabled they had to count on fighting her. Raven dashed forward and with her bare hands ripped off one of their heads. Beheading is the most effective way to kill most demons, although most use swords as they don't have the physical strength to rip bone and flesh. The other four came at her together, probably in hope that they would have strength in numbers, but soon enough three more were beheaded. There was only one left, he backed away from her with his hands held up in surrender. He looked terrified. On her way towards him she picked up one of the dead demon's heads.

"It's your lucky day." She said to the remaining demon. "I am going to let you live. But in return you have to tell me who sent you." She said in a dangerously calm voice.

"I-I-I-I c-c-c-can't tell you. He'll k-k-kill m-me." The demon stuttered out in fear.

"And what do you think I'll do to you if you don't?" She asked him but he didn't answer, just stared at her, shaking in fear. She sighed. "But do not worry, I need you to send a message for me and today that is much more important than killing you. I have a good idea who sent you anyway." She handed him the head of his dead comrade. "I need you to give this to your leader. And if I ever see you anywhere near that little girl, her family or well near any one with the intent on harming them, then it will be _your_ head that I send back next time. Do you understand me?" She asked and was right in his face.

"Y-yes but will h-he know who it's from? Y-you don't have a spoken message you want me to tell h-him?" The demon asked.

"No, he will know who it's from. And he will understand the message loud and clear. Leave now. And remember my warning." He nodded and with that he disappeared. Raven held her hand out palm faced down and set the remainders of the bodies in to flames and then there were only a few piles of ash left of the demons. She turned and walked back to the little girl.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Raven asked as she crouched down to her level.

"I'm fine, thank you." She said.

"You're welcome, anytime. Did they say anything to you?" Raven asked softly.

"Just that I had to go with them. They said that you wanted to see me and had sent them to collect me." She replied. Raven nodded. "What was their plan? They must have known that wouldn't have worked, I know that you don't associate with demons." The little girl added.

"His plan turned out exactly the way he wanted it to." Raven said.

"What do you mean?"

"He wanted me to understand his own message." Raven replied with a faraway look in her eyes.

"What was the message Raven? And who is _he_?" The little girl asked.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about a thing Melanie." Raven said. Just then, Jonathan walked in.

"Melanie what are you doing here?" He asked her surprised.

"Oh, hey dad." Melanie replied. She went over to him and hugged him. Raven looked slightly taken aback, clearly not knowing that the girl was Jonathan's daughter. "Dad have you met Raven?" Melanie asked him, she took hold of his hand and pulled him towards Raven.

"I have sweat heart. But how do you know Raven?" He asked her.

"Well if a demon is ever after me. Then I go to Raven. Like just now." She replied.

"Just now? What happened? Are you ok?" Jonathan asked, a little panicked.

"Just a few fire demons, nothing to worry about, they won't be going near her again." Raven said. Jonathan looked up at her and then back to Melanie and asked.

"Sweet heart, can you show me everything that happened from when the demons approached you?" Melanie nodded and put her finger tips to his forehead, using telepathy to show him but needing the contact due to her young age. A few minutes later Melanie dropped her hands again. Jonathan nodded, stood up and looked to Raven. "Thank you." He said to her. She nodded in response. "Melanie, was this the first time this has happened?" He asked his daughter.

"No, it's happened lots of times. So often in fact, that Raven said to go straight to her as soon as a demon showed up." She replied.

"Did she?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, before that she showed up every time I was attacked by a demon anyway." Melanie said.

"How come you told her to come straight to you every time she was attacked? Why not continue like before?" Jonathan asked her curiously.

"In case I don't see when a demon attacks her." Raven stated.

"I don't know how many times you have saved her but I can't thank you enough." Jonathan said sincerely.

"Its fine don't worry about it." Raven replied. She appeared uncomfortable but I couldn't figure out why.

"Melanie why haven't you mentioned this before?" He asked.

"Well er…" Melanie hesitated and looked up at Raven.

"Melanie?" Jonathan asked. She sighed but answered anyway.

"Well I told mum and she said that I should stay away from Raven. She said she was dangerous. But I like Raven dad, I don't want to stay away from her." Melanie said clearly upset by the idea. Raven looked puzzled.

"And that's why you didn't tell me?" He asked. Melanie nodded.

"I figured you would say the same thing. I don't understand why though, she's really nice. And she kills the horrible demons so they can't hurt anybody. I invited Raven round so she could meet you both one time but she said no, and that what mum said was probably right and that I should stay away from her unless I'm in danger." Melanie answered. Jonathan looked up at Raven and she shrugged, unsure of what to say.

"Well you can talk to me about anything any time you want. And I'm fine with you hanging out with Raven at least I know you will be safe. But as your mother isn't very happy about this situation maybe you shouldn't mention it to her." Jonathan said to Melanie.

"You mean I should lie to mum?" She asked.

"No, not lie sweet heart. Just…withhold information." He said, she nodded in understanding and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck in a hug.

Something told me that these last few moments would have mixed effects on the other agents. I wasn't entirely sure that it would help to solve any uneasiness though. I didn't know Jonathan's thought process but he was trusting Raven around his daughter, and that will confuse our agents, they don't want to trust her but they trust Jonathon's judgement. As they pulled back from the hug Jonathan noticed a pendant hanging from Melanie's necklace.

"Where did you get this? I haven't seen it before." Jonathan asked his daughter.

"Oh….um." Melanie mumbled.

"It's fine Melanie." Raven said to her.

"But you said to keep it hidden and not to tell anyone." She replied.

"Yeah but I didn't mean for you to lie to your parents." She turned to Jonathan. "It protects her from super naturals using mind control on her. I'm working on one to protect her from physical powers as well but it's…tricky, it's difficult to get one object to protect her from all that." She said to him.

"I have heard of one's like these-" He gestured to the necklace around Melanie's neck. "-but I haven't heard of the other one, is that even possible?" He asked Raven.

"I guess I'll find out." She replied simply and he nodded.

I concluded the meeting after that, before leaving I inclined my head to Tom, asking him without speaking to stick around and keep an eye on things. He nodded in understanding. Whilst I wanted to give Raven some space so she wouldn't feel like I didn't trust her, there was still likely to be a lot of unease amongst our agents. I knew Tom would be able to handle any trouble if it came to it.

When I arrived at the lab to see Jimmy, he barely even noticed my presence. He was leaning over a microscope, completely engrossed in his work.

"You wanted to speak to me about something you found in Raven's blood?" I asked. He looked up from the microscope and smiled apologetically for keeping me waiting.

"Yes, I haven't managed to find much out just yet, the analysis of her blood has been just as difficult as she predicted." He told me.

"Did you manage to find out what the scientists changed in her DNA?"

"Well I did find something that is unusual, however there's no way of knowing if it was caused by the scientists or not. I'm going to be honest with you here Adam, I don't think I'll ever be able to find out what in Raven's blood is natural, and what was changed." He spoke in a disappointed tone.

"Hey, you can't do the impossible, so let's focus on what you did find." I tried to cheer him up.

"Well, I managed to identify that Raven's DNA can repair cells at an accelerated rate." Jimmy put simply, knowing that if he gets too technical I'll only have to get him to repeat it in a way that I can actually understand. I am no medical expert after all.

"But witches don't naturally have accelerated healing, only demons, werewolves and vampires do. Witches can only heal themselves through spell casting." I said, thinking it over.

"Exactly. But Raven can." Was Jimmy's only response.

"It would make sense if that was down to the scientists, if they were creating weapons they would want them to be as indestructible as they could manage, and advanced healing would certainly get them one step closer. But it would be nearly impossible for them to infuse that with Raven's DNA unless they had super natural blood to analyse before that. All of the other people in the experiment were human, if the scientists knew about super naturals, they would want to start with powerful beings to begin with, to make the most effective weapons and to achieve the best results." I spoke my thoughts out loud to try and make sense of the situation.

"Unless?" Jimmy asked.

"Unless of course Raven's accelerated healing was already part of her DNA, and not down to the scientists. Which would have to mean both of her parents cannot be witches, one has to be either a werewolf, a vampire or a demon." I paused for and Jimmy nodded, confirming I had gotten to the same conclusion he had.

"Which would explain why she's so powerful." He added. "Other than talking to Raven about this, I suggest we keep this information on a need to know basis, because if we are right, and the other agents find out that there's a possibility of Raven being half demon, all hell will break loose."

I nodded, knowing that Jimmy was right. I didn't like the idea of keeping information from our colleagues, but this would easily cause chaos, and I didn't want to make the already tense atmosphere worse than it already was.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 3

The next morning I caught up to Raven, pulled her aside and explained to her everything that Jimmy had found out so far from the analysis of her blood. I wanted to be honest with her in hope that she would one day learn to trust me, and it was her DNA, she had a right to know.

"Were both of your parents witches?" I asked her.

"I-I don't know." She answered after a moment of hesitation. I nodded.

"It's ok, I understand if you don't want to tell me, I just-" I started before she cut me off.

"You misunderstood me Adam, I'm not lying to you. There's not a lot I remember about my family, or where I grew up. All I know is that they are dead." She told me, looking down at her feet.

I didn't know how to react to what she told me, I thought she might be upset, I mean she is talking about the death of her family after all, I was about to reach out, to comfort her in some way when she spoke.

"I'm not even sure how to feel when I know they're dead, how do you grieve for people who you can't even remember?" She asked. I had no idea how to respond but at that moment there was a knock at the door and Jonathan entered, not waiting for a response. He inclined his head to the conference room and we followed him down the hall in silence. I looked at Raven out of the corner of my eye but there was no evidence in her expression that our conversation had even taken place.

We entered the conference room and already seated were Alice, Clara, Jack and Jake. Alexander was sat at the back of the room, likely wanting to find evidence that Raven was up to no good. Jonathan introduced the agents that Raven hadn't met in person by name and with a brief explanation of what they specialised in as Raven and I joined the others at the table. Every agent has an important role in the agency but we try to divide everyone in to teams so we have every skill set necessary when on missions. On this team, Alice is a low level witch but can get us through any electronic code locks, Clara comes from a long line of extremely powerful witches, having spell casters on every team is vital, Jack is our computer expert and his brother Jake is a safe cracker. The twins were also shape shifters so we also had strength and speed within the team. We would usually have an expert strategist on the team but a few months ago the other agent from this team died in an attack on the agency, on the day we interviewed Raven we were looking for their replacement.

"The reason I called you in here is that I am sending you on a mission, and Adam you will be leading the operation. An ancient super natural artefact has been stolen and I need you to retrieve it. Here are the blue prints, they have high level security and guards at every entry and exit point. As well as CCTV that is monitored 24/7." Jonathan said as he placed the blue prints on the table. All of us except Alexander analysed them, knowing that as I was going on the mission, he would be staying here at the agency in case there was another attack. "We need as few amount of casualties as possible so not to alert the guards. I need you to get in and get out without being seen by anyone.

"One question Jono." Jack said.

"Yes Jack?" Jonathan asked, supressing the need to roll his eyes at the nickname.

"So why is Adam coming with us? It can't seriously take all six of us to do this mission?" Jack asked.

"I know what you mean Jack, very strange." Jake added.

"He thinks you'll try and kill me out of mistrust if he doesn't send Adam with us." Raven said and everyone looked at her. "What? I'm right, am I not?" All eyes turned to Jonathan.

"Fine, that might have had some influence on my decision." He said.

"Really feeling the trust Jono." The twins, Jack and Jake said in unison.

"No offence, but it would take more than the four of them to kill me." Raven added.

"Big headed much?" Clara interjected.

"Try it." Raven challenged with a smile on her face.

"So much for not harming our work force." Alexander said from the side of the room.

"No it's fine Alex, I can take her." Clara said, Raven just laughed. Clara was about to add something when Jonathan interrupted.

"Enough, Adam you are going with them whether everyone likes it or not. Just to make sure everything runs smoothly." He said with a note of finality in his voice.

"So, what's the plan of action?" Alice asked, speaking for the first time.

"I say we just go through the front doors." Jack said with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Are you _insane_? We want a subtle approach." Clara asked him disbelievingly.

"You didn't let him finish dear. We go through the front doors, after hacking their computer system and causing some kind of problem. They ring a technician whose call we intercept. Then one of us goes in, finds the artefact and then gets the hell out of there." Jake said.

"Actually brother, I had finished. My plan was to just literally burst through the front doors." Jack said.

"Are you insane?" Jake asked, repeating Clara's earlier question.

"Only slightly. But brother, it runs in the family." Jack said with a smirk on his face.

"You cheeky git!" Jake said and mock punched his twin brother on the arm.

"Ok, enough you two. Jake's plan isn't that bad, the details just need to be finalised." Jonathan said.

"But who would we send in? If they are hiding a super natural artefact, they will surely know all of our identities and connections to the agency." Alice said.

"But they don't know that _Raven_ works here." Jonathan said.

"No offence boss man, but _everyone _knows Raven's face, if they saw her I'm pretty sure that they would all mega freak out." Jack added.

"But they don't know _all_ of her faces." I said catching on to Jonathan's plan. Jack just looked confused.

"Jack how do you think I've managed to go undetected all these years?" Raven asked him and gradually used her magic to change her features, confirming what Jonathan and I were only guessing at when we suggested it.

"No way! You can change your appearance?" Jack asked her and she nodded. "That is so cool! Can you teach me how to do that?" He asked her.

"Jack, you are getting off track. Again." Jonathan said with a sigh.

"Sorry boss." Jack said and smiled.

"So what disguise are we thinking?" Raven asked.

"A blonde?" Jake suggested and his brother winked at him in agreement.

"Typical man." Raven joked as she changed her hair from long straight black to wavy blonde locks. And her dark brown eyes to sparkling blue ones. If I hadn't just seen it happen, I would _not_ guess that she was Raven.

"This explains how we've never been able to find you." I said and she smiled.

"Jack, you hack their system and start creating problems and Jake, you get ready to intercept the call." Jonathan instructed. "Raven, we will have a camera and an ear piece on you at all times so we know what is happening. Clara, can you get that equipment please?" He asked her and she went to do as she was instructed. "Raven, the antique that you need to retrieve is wooden and is in a star shape with 16 points. It will be in a safe on the same floor as the one with the main computer system. The company whose call we are intercepting are one that they trust and have used often so they may well leave you in the room by yourself. Jack will give you a device that will fix the computer problem whilst you look for the antique. We will also be monitoring their CCTV so we can remove any trace of you being there."

Jack was typing away at a computer, already having hacked the necessary system.

"I now give you the gift of a virus." He said, clearly delighted with himself, he probably beat his personal time or something. "Better call soon otherwise it will infect your entire system." He spoke to the computer as if the people on the other end could actually hear him. Less than 10 minutes later Jake's phone rang, and after a few minutes of speaking he hung up the phone and turned to Jonathan.

"Boss, I just intercepted their call, they are expecting us in 40 minutes." Jake said. Jonathan looked around at everyone.

"Are we all ready?" He asked and we nodded. "Then let's do this."

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you enjoyed this!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 4

We were stationed a few streets over, listening and watching just in case anything were to go wrong. We had all the equipment we would need packed in to this small van as well as the five of us, so as you could imagine it was quite cramped. This isn't the first time we've done this kind of mission so we all knew what it would be like, but we have no idea how long we will be in here for, and as time goes on I can guarantee you that Jack will start up with his usual jokes that will get on everyone's nerves.

Before Raven went in we bugged her so she now has an earpiece and a small camera disguised in her glasses, cliché I know, but we had limited time and we didn't have many other options. That and the fact that Jack wouldn't shut up about the fact that blonde haired blue eyed Raven would look hot with glasses. It was just easier all round.

Any noise that Raven could hear went through to our headsets and anything that she could see would be transmitted to our laptops and automatically recorded. We could speak to her through a microphone in to her earpiece in case we needed to warn her about anything.

Turning my attention to the screen I saw that Raven had easily made it through reception and was being lead to the elevator by a male employee. The amount of guards I could see through the hidden camera made me nervous, not liking the idea of her going in alone. But it would be suspicious to send more than one person in to fix a virus, and Raven would be able to handle herself if she got in to any dangerous situations.

As the elevator took them to the higher levels of the building there was silence between the two of them. He led her to the room that we had predicted and followed her in. He motioned to the main computer in the room.

"You should be able to solve the problem using this one." He said to her.

She nodded, sat down and began typing. I didn't hear any footsteps that would mean he had left the room, and if he didn't then this wasn't going to work. Raven turned her head to the side slightly and we could see that he was watching her, he didn't notice her gaze though as his own was currently travelling down her body.

"Raven, you need to get rid of him." I said to her through the earpiece. And she nodded in reply.

"Hey, can you come here a moment please? There is some sort of password that I need." She said to him and he bent down slightly to look at the computer screen. He paused a moment, confused as there was nothing on the screen. Raven reached her arm up and quickly pressed down on the closest pressure point on his body. He was unconscious within seconds.

"How are you going to explain that when he wakes up?" Clara asked her.

"_I'll erase his memory and replant one that would mean he fell asleep when I was fixing the computer."_ Raven replied telepathically to us all, we had discussed beforehand that she couldn't speak out loud just in case there were any bugs planted in the room, unlikely I'll admit, but it doesn't hurt to be careful. Raven plugged the device in to the computer that Jack made to fix the problem he created and headed towards the door. Before leaving she picked up the guy with ease and put him in a near-by chair.

Opening the door she found a long empty hallway, she turned left and followed the turns of the hallway that the blueprints showed her. Raven made it to a steel code-locked door. It was Alice's turn to step in now. The computer programming in the camera allowed her to find out the code for the door, it took her a few minutes and in that time Raven had to stay completely still otherwise the camera would lose focus on the lock.

"5193." Alice said to Raven through her earpiece. She typed in the numbers and the light changed to green. She pushed open the door and looked around for any other security measures. The room was huge and was filled with aisles of boxes. She made her way through and found the safe.

"Ok Raven, put your ear to the safe and turn the dial slowly." Jake told her. She did as he said and followed his instructions until he had figured out the combination. Raven opened the safe to reveal stacks of money and the artefact that we were sent to retrieve. After she reached in and plucked it from the safe we all paused for a moment expecting some sort of alarm to go off, when nothing happened she put it in her jacket and closed up the safe. Just as she turned we all paused once again, but this time it wasn't to see if there was an alarm, it was because we heard footsteps. Raven dashed to the side and hid in one of the aisles. The footsteps were getting closer and as they did we could hear that there were five sets.

"What if they went in the room that you're supposed to be in?" Alice asked concerned.

"_Already taken care of. Before I left I created an illusion so anyone who enters the room will see me there fixing the computer."_ She told us telepathically.

"But what if they speak to the illusion of you?" Clara criticised.

"_Then the illusion of me will reply as I would usually." _She explained.

"That is so cool! But also sounds impossible to do." Jack said excited, he can seem like such a big kid sometimes.

"_It took quite a long time to perfect." _ Raven replied.

The footsteps were getting closer now and Raven moved further down the aisle, she hid along the edge of it as they passed down the other side and then moved towards the exit. She stopped further down and looked back to see them moving towards the safe. She ran silently down the middle of the room towards them.

"Raven be careful, they'll see you." I warned her. One of them turned slightly and I thought all our hard work would be for nothing. Except for one thing. When he turned, he would've been looking right at her, but his eyes travelled straight past her and he didn't seem to be able to see what was right in front of him. Raven moved around to the right, where one of the men were just opening the safe. When he opened the door the artefact was right back where Raven had found it.

"What the hell?" Jack and Jake said at the same time. I was just glad I wasn't the only confused one here.

As they saw that everything was in order the guard locked the safe, turned and left with the others following him. As soon as they were gone, Raven re-entered the combination and retrieved the artefact once again.

"Raven, brief explanation please?" I asked her.

"_Well, I turned myself invisible and then as soon as the door was open I transported the artefact back in to its rightful place." _Raven explained to us and we were all silent. Until Jack decided to cheer and fist pump the air. In response we heard Raven laughing from the other end.

We watched through the computer screen as she made her way back through the hallways and to the room where the employee was still unconscious. She walked up to him and put her fingers to his temples, tampering with his memory I presumed. Going back to the computer she retrieved the device that had fixed the problem.

"Hello?" She walked up to the guard and used magic to make him regain consciousness. He opened his eyes and blinked up at her.

"What's going on?" He asked confused.

"You fell asleep whilst I was fixing the computer, it's all done now though, you shouldn't have any more problems with it." She said to him.

"That's great, thank you." He replied and led her back down to reception. As she walked out of the doors I let out a sigh of relief. She walked away from the building, down a few winding roads like we had discussed earlier and in to the wooded area to change her disguise. She didn't transform her looks to how we usually see her though, just in case someone did recognise her. She exited the woods on the opposite side that she entered, so it wouldn't look suspicious and then circled back around and met us at the van. As soon as she came through the door and closed it behind her Jack wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Now we don't really know Raven very well so I didn't know how she would react to that. But, to my surprise she just returned the hug without hesitation.

"Good work kid, you did great!" He said to her.

"Kid? You realise that you are probably only a couple years older than me right?" She said with a laugh.

"My bad." He replied with a smile.

"Come on guys, time to head back." I said as I climbed in to the driver's seat. I smiled as I could sense the happy atmosphere that always comes after a successful mission.

"Does it bother anyone else that it was so easy to retrieve that?" Raven asked and the mood in the van instantly plummeted. "Other than the guards that came in to check on it there weren't any others posted on that floor."

"Maybe not all the employees knew about it, and it would look suspicious for guards to be on that floor." Alice suggested.

"Maybe." Raven replied, unconvinced.

I hadn't thought about how easy it was, I was just glad that nothing went wrong. I hoped that Alice was right so we didn't have to worry about anything except figuring out what that artefact is, and why it's so important.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please review!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 5

As soon as we reached our office building I saw that Raven's suspicions were right. We walked through the broken front doors and crossed the lobby that was littered with broken glass. We looked around at the bodies scattered on the floor, I listened out for heartbeats and the others checked for pulses, looking for survivors. We headed to the upper levels of the building and found Tom, Jimmy, Alexander, James and Jonathan stood with a small group of our agents.

"What happened?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"There was another attack." Jonathan answered.

"How many casualties?"

"Not sure yet, still looking for survivors." Jimmy answered me.

"Any idea who was behind it?" Jonathan sighed, but answered anyway.

"It would seem that whilst you were on a mission to infiltrate and retrieve the artefact, they sent their people here to attack us."

I saw out of the corner of my eye Clara turn to Raven. This wasn't going to be good.

"You knew something had happened, perhaps the reason you managed to get out of there so easily is because you are working with them." Clara accused.

"I was only guessing, I didn't know anything had happened for sure, it just felt too easy." Raven responded.

"But you can see the _future!_ How did you not know-" Clara began before Jonathan interrupted her, raising his voice.

"Enough! We aren't going to get anywhere if we automatically blame Raven. She is on our side and we have no hope of beating our enemies if we can't trust our own people." A long pause followed. "What we need to do now is tend to the wounded, bury our dead, repair the damage to the building and put new security measures in place." He said, calmer now.

No one said anything further, we just split in to groups and carried out Jonathan's instructions, repairing the damage that was done. We repaired the security system first, Raven adding in spells and enchantments that would help fend off another attack if it were to happen. Clara worked with her on the spells without her usual snide remarks. It took days to repair all the damage, but even when we were finished we were still weaker as an agency, having hundreds of agents killed in the attack.

We had a meeting four days ago to figure out who were out most dangerous enemies and who might try and attack us now that we had fewer agents to fight back. I could tell from the look in Raven's eyes that she had made a mental list of our enemies and had started to think about how to take them out. I had pulled her aside after the meeting had finished and pleaded with her not to do anything stupid. But her absence today speaks volumes. She clearly didn't listen.

"Maybe we should start without her." Jonathan suggested. We still had a lot of issues to discuss. But just then Raven came through the door, walked over to the board where we had listed our enemies, and crossed off the top five most potential threats to our organisation. She took a seat and looked around the room, avoiding looking at me. She could clearly feel me looking at her as she finally looked at me and sighed.

"I know what you're going to say."

"Do you?" I asked disbelievingly. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"I scouted the places first, I knew I could handle them on my own. I didn't know any of the people who died in the attack, all of you needed time to grieve but action needed to be taken." She stated.

I could understood her reasoning, and it did get some of the targets off of our backs, but I still wasn't happy with her putting herself in danger.

"I did what needed to be done." She said, and then turned to Jonathan. "I also have a suggestion." He nodded for her to continue. "I think we need to spread word to your enemies that I'm here." She added.

"What good would that do?" James asked.

"It might make them back off for a while, everyone with half a brain fears Raven, they would be less likely to attack if they knew she was here." Jonathan said.

"That is the preferred outcome, yes." We all looked to Raven questioningly. "There is a reason I'm asking your opinions about this. I have a lot of enemies of my own, individually they don't pose much of a threat but if they were to team up with the enemies the agency already has, it could be catastrophic." Raven told us. She looked around the room as this sunk in.

"Perhaps, we should all take a day or two to think about that idea." Jonathan suggested, even though as the leader of the agency, it was actually down to him. But as it would affect us all, he wanted everyone to have a say in the matter.

The others nodded in agreement to this so we moved on the next manner of business. Jonathan picked up the artefact and analysed it closely in silence.

"Well Jono, are ya gunna tell us what it does? The suspense is killing me man!" Jack said in his usual joking manor in attempt to lighten the mood.

"Well here's the thing, we don't actually know what it does, just that if it gets in to the wrong hands, it could mean the end of the world." Jonathan said and everyone fell silent.

"You're telling us, that with that small device, someone could _destroy_ the _entire world_?" Clara asked in disbelief. Jonathan just nodded in reply.

"Most call it the Exitium, which in Latin means destruction. It is made so only one person can control it, and see inside of it. It was made to control the fine line between super natural and human, which can be broken using that device. It can take away power, or give power to all. If the latter was done, then it would lead to great destruction. So would the former I expect. Hence its name. It can also, on occasion, predict the future. It wasn't created for these purposes; as far as I know the original reason for its creation was just to observe the difference between the super natural and the human race. And to aid them if anything catastrophic were to happen. I do believe the witch who created it is dead now." Raven told us and we turned to gape at her.

"And you would know that _how?_" Clara challenged.

"I've heard of it before." She replied simply.

"And the reason why you didn't mention it was…?" Clara asked.

"Well, I presumed that such a large super natural organisation would know of one of the most dangerous objects that exist." Raven said slightly annoyed at Clara's constant accusatory tone.

"Do you know who the person is that can control it?" Jonathan asked her.

"No but I presume that it would be someone in the bloodline of the witch that created it. Although that isn't always the case." Raven replied.

"Well we may as well start by seeing if any of us can open it." Jonathan said. He tested it himself but it wouldn't open so he handed it to Alexander.

"Are you serious?" He asked him.

"Well we have to start somewhere; we need to find out who they are." Jonathan replied.

It continued to be passed round the circle but none of us could open it. When it got to Jack instead of trying to open it he decided to chuck it up in the air and catch it again with a smile on his face.

"Jack, what are you doing?" I asked him with a sigh.

"Just trying to lighten the mood. Do you think if it was dropped that the destructor star thing would break?" He asked.

"No it wouldn't. It can only be destroyed by the person who can control it." Raven answered him. He tried to open it but it didn't budge, he handed it to his brother but he had the same result.

"Maybe we are trying the wrong technique? Why don't we just crack it open with a sword?" Clara asked.

"Do you really want to try and pierce the shell of something that can destroy the world with a sword?" Raven asked her. Clara rolled her eyes in response but didn't try and use her sword on it. Before Raven or Alice could try opening it I started to sense people about to transport themselves in to the room.

Raven's head snapped up, obviously sensing the same thing that I could. She stood and we both faced the direction that they would appear in. The others didn't know what we were doing but followed suit.

Five demons appeared in front of us. Each one looking just as evil and dirty as the others. The one stood in the middle looked straight at Raven and smiled.

"Hello Jonathan, how are you?" He said instead of speaking to Raven like I had expected. Jonathan's only response was to fix him with a glare.

"Damon, what the hell are you doing here?" Raven said to him with clenched teeth.

"So you remember me then?" The demon said back to her.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" She asked and he just smiled in response.

"Oh never mind, have you found that you have forgotten anything recently?" He asked her and she froze.

"What. Did. You. _Do?_" She growled at him as she took a menacing step towards him.

"Oh you know, this and that." He replied. In a flash she had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall, pinning him in place. The demons accompanying him took a step forward to help him but Damon waved them back. "Your temper isn't much better, is it dear?" He taunted her.

"What was so important in my memories that you had to take away?" Raven asked. "Or add?" She put in after a moment.

"How is Ricky?" He asked her, she was starting to get annoyed that he kept answering her questions with yet more of his own. Raven looked at him with a blank expression.

"Why should I care?"

"Nice dodge of that question." He said with a smirk. She tightened her hand around his throat.

"You still haven't answered my question, what did you do?" She asked but he stayed silent. "Come on Damon, we both know that you love taunting me but we also know that you love to tell me what it is that you know and I don't." She said to him annoyed.

"You are right Raven, but I will not tell you all of it. Just little hints that will keep you up at night." He paused for dramatic effect. "You have two people to save Raven; they are both very special to you. One man and one small child. She is very brave by the way." He couldn't speak for a moment as Raven's hand was now preventing him from speaking. She loosened her grip an inch so he could continue. "But first to save them you must remember who they are, yes? Maybe you can use that device." Damon looked towards the Exitium and then back to Raven.

"Are you saying-" Raven began but he cut her off.

"Yes I am my dear; you are the one who can control that fancy device." He told her, he looked back at it adoringly and Raven caught on to what he was getting at.

"I will not control it how you desire just to get them back. I will find another way." Raven said stiffly.

"Fine, make it difficult for yourself, but they don't have long left Raven. After a few days I may get bored and just kill them anyway." And with that answer, Raven punched him in the face, successfully breaking his nose. "Tut tut, always so fowl tempered." He said to her. She decided to use a different tactic.

"Wow Damon, you have grown so much more powerful since we last met, I almost beat you last time and now here you are, tampering with my memory and knowing what we were yet to discover. I applaud you, I really do." She said to him with slight admiration in her tone.

"No you don't, you still hate me. I can see it in your eyes." Damon said, letting her in on the fact that her tactic wasn't going to work.

"Well I'm not going to admire the one person who killed my entire family am I Damon?" She said annoyed.

"Actually out of the people that you are blood related to, I only killed you mother. Your father is still alive." Damon said and with that he and the other demons disappeared, leaving Raven in shock, confusion and hatred.


	6. Chapter 6

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 6

After the demons left no one knew what to say. Even Jack was silent and that rarely happens. Raven was leant with her fist against the wall where she previously had Damon pinned by his throat. It was hard to determine her state of mind, I now had figured out what she meant about her family, I had no idea what I could say, none of us did, so we all stayed silent. Alexander took the Exitium from Clara and took a few steps towards Raven. Jonathan grabbed his arm preventing him from continuing and shook his head at him. Warning him to just let her be. Ignoring him, he continued towards her. He put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She looked at him questioningly. He held out the Exitium towards her.

"Let's deal with one thing at a time, see if he's right." He said to her. She sighed and took it from him. There was a slight pause where we all seemed to take a deep breath. She turned one of the star points and they all extended outwards revealing a ball of golden light inside. Raven looked mesmerised and her eyes seemed to be following a trail inside of it.

"What is it showing you Raven?" I asked her, my voice barely audible.

"Everything." She whispered.

"Will it show you who Damon has captured?" Alexander asked her and she snapped it shut.

"No, it won't." She said sadly. Then her head snapped up and looked at Jonathan.

"What?" He asked, his face filling with worry. Instead of answering, Raven concentrated for a moment. Then, Melanie appeared in front of her.

"Oh thank god." Raven said as she wrapped the little girl in her arms.

"Well this is a nice greeting." Melanie giggled as she returned Raven's hug. "Did I miss something?" She asked, questioning Raven's strange behaviour.

"You thought he took Melanie?" Jonathan asked her and she nodded.

"He was the one who sent the fire demons after her. I presumed her was just warning me that he could get to her and that I needed to be more careful." She said to him.

"And that's why you thought it was her when he said about the little girl." Jonathan stated.

"She's the only little girl that I know; I don't understand who else it could be." Raven said confused.

"Ok, I _have_ missed something, is anyone going to explain what's going on?" Melanie asked but no one answered her.

"What about the guy?" Alice asked her and she shrugged.

"What about the guy Ricky that he mentioned? Would it be him?" Tom asked.

"No, he wouldn't make it that easy, even though I have no idea who that is." Raven said.

"Well maybe talking to Ricky would help you trigger your memory? Or maybe he knows something?" James suggested.

"Yeah maybe, but considering Damon mentioned him then it means it's not going to be that easy." Raven replied.

"Is everyone else ignoring the blatantly obvious fact here?" Clara put in and I could tell that this wasn't going to go well. "One of the most _evil_ supernaturals that exist now has the power to _destroy the world!_" She yelled, glaring at Raven. "And you're all here, sitting around feeling sorry for her because some demon is messing with her. She probably killed someone that he cares about and now he's just getting pay back! I'm sure whoever he has captured deserve it anyway."

At that comment Raven's eyes darkened and I was just waiting for them to go completely black. Raven took a few steps towards Clara but she held her ground. Raven was right in her face.

"Did you not hear what he said? A _little girl _Clara. No matter _who_ she is. No one deserves that, I know how ruthless he can be and if she says even one word out of turn, he'll _kill_ her." Raven said to her, with her voice a low growl of a threat.

"And then it will be all _your_ fault." Clara stated.

"Clara, _shut_ up." I said annoyed, she was really treading on thin ice at the moment and she didn't seem to realise how careful she needs to be. But in an instant Raven had calmed down and stepped out of Clara's face.

"She's right though, after all they wouldn't have been taken if they didn't know me. It's just so frustrating that I don't even know who I'm supposed to be saving! I can't even use magic to search for them without knowing at least that." Raven said as she sat down, looking at the floor. No one knew what to say to that so it was my job to step in.

"Well we can start by finding out who Ricky is. Can you bring him here like you did with Melanie?" I suggested and Raven's head shot up.

"That's a very good point. I should be able to. But as I don't really know who he is…" She left the end of the sentence hanging as she looked up at Jonathan. He nodded in understanding.

"Melanie it's time that you go home, your mum will be wondering where you are." Jonathan said to his daughter.

"Are you kidding me? It's just getting interesting! And I want to stay and help Raven." Melanie said. Raven crouched down so she was at her level.

"Melanie, the best thing you can do to help me is to go home so I know that you are safe. And text either myself or your father every few hours so we know that nothing has happened." Raven said to the young girl but she still didn't seem very happy.

"Fine. Good luck Raven." She said as she gave her a hug. She then went to her dad and wrapped her arms round his neck in a hug whilst whispering in his ear. "Help Raven daddy, I don't like it when she's sad." She had no idea that Raven could hear what she said so she pretended she couldn't.

"Now go home honey and try to stay out of trouble." Jonathan said to her and Melanie disappeared.

Raven concentrated for a moment and then a boy in his late teens/early twenties appeared. He was dressed in casual jeans and a White t-shirt, his hair was a mess and he didn't look very happy to see her.

"Raven." He said stiffly. I could tell by the tone of his voice that this was going to be interesting.

"Ricky?" She asked, still uncertain.

"Well who else would it be? You were the one who summoned me here." He said annoyed. When Raven stayed silent he continued. "Did you know?" He asked her.

"Know what Ricky?"

"You know what I'm on about." But when she didn't reply again he continued, "Did you know I was a bird shifter when you pushed me off that cliff?" He looked uncomfortable asking her this. She pushed him off a cliff? I looked at Raven but she just looked confused.

"I pushed you off a cliff?" Raven asked him.

"Don't play games Raven." He said and Raven looked thoughtful. The expression in her eyes changed as if she had a moment of clarity.

"So you are still determined to blame me for that incident?" was her only reply.

"Incident? I could've died!"

"But you didn't." She said and muttered "Unfortunately" under her breath. "You should count yourself lucky."

"Lucky? That my girlfriend pushed me off a cliff? And who else would I blame?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Yourself. You should really think of the consequences of your actions." She spoke calmly.

"Me? You are saying this is _my_ fault?"

"Indeed. You should be more careful where you decide to break up with someone. Or better yet, don't cheat in the first place. Tell me, what did you think my reaction would be, huh? You knew what you were getting in to when you first asked me out, I never hid who I was from you. Part of me thinks you did it on purpose." His silence spoke a thousand words. "Oh my god. That's _it_? You were afraid of me so you needed a reason for us to part ways? You know there are far easier ways to make that happen." She was angry now, no make that _furious_, I could detect no other emotions from her although I believe I saw a flash of hurt in her eyes. "Well to answer your question, no. I did not know that you are a bird shifter when I pushed you off that cliff." There was a slight pause before she spoke up again. "But to discuss this wasn't why I got you to come here Ricky." She said, much calmer now. "I need you to tell me anything that you have heard recently about Damon." She told him.

"That demon that was always after you? Are you ok? What's happened?" He asked, without giving her a chance to answer one question before he asked the next.

"I'm fine, but he's kidnapped two people and completely whipped them from my memory." She told him and he just gaped at her.

"Shit, how powerful must he be to be able to erase _your_ memory?" He asked.

"More powerful than I thought he was. It gets worse; one of them is a small child."

"Double shit. Raven, I'm not gunna forgive you for the past, and I doubt you'll forgive me either. I think we should just try and move past it though. How can I help?" He asked her.

"I don't know if you can. He only asked me if I remembered who you were and then changed the subject. Maybe he just mentioned you so we would waste some of the precious time that we have finding out what you know, to realise that you can't help us." She said and I could see in her eyes that she was slowly loosing hope.

"Well if these people are close to you, then wouldn't you have pictures with them?" He asked and she shook her head.

"I'm always moving around, getting different disguises; I wouldn't leave evidence that would link me to a different face." She explained.

"But what other lead do we have?" He asked and I saw Raven's eyes flicker to the Exitium for a second but they didn't linger.

"Could that help?" Alexander asked her, obviously noticing the same as I did.

"I honestly don't know, I don't know how to use it. And I'm pretty sure that's not what it was designed for." Raven admitted. There was a slight pause before Alexander spoke again.

"Look, we all know what it's like to lose someone. So if that thing can help you, then you use it. It doesn't matter what it is _supposed_ to be used for, you need it and you are the controller. It's come at just the right time if you ask me." He said.

"But don't you think it's all a bit too coincidental? It just seems to me that I've just been handed the possible solution to my problems on a silver platter. Just makes me a bit cautious is all." Raven said.

"I find it difficult to believe that." Clara said and Raven turned to her.

"You realise he had a girlfriend right?" Raven asked her and I wasn't sure who she was on about.

"I don't know who you are talking about." Clara said, avoiding eye contact.

"Yes you do. The guy that I killed that you were in love with." Raven said simply.

"So you _do_ know." Was all that Clara said in reply.

"Yes, I know why you hate me, that's why I've let it slide so far. I'm guessing you have no idea why I killed him?"

"Because you're evil." Clara replied bluntly.

"That is debatable really. But if you want to know the real reason it's because he was _possessed_." Raven tried to explain.

"Says you."

"What reason do I have to lie to you Clara?" Raven asked. Clara stood up and took a few steps towards Raven, they were now only a few inches apart.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you have everyone here wrapped around your little _finger_! Even Alexander is being nice to you and he _hates_ you! Guaranteed you are actually in league with that demon and the whole thing is a scam to use us all!" Clara yelled in her face.

"So what are you proposing? That I have somehow used mind control on everyone here just to use everyone in some sort of evil scheme?" Raven asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, pretty much." Clara replied. Raven was silent for a moment.

"If that were true, then how come you're not on my side? Do you think your mind is stronger than Jonathan's? And Adam's? And everyone else's?" Everyone looked at Clara expectantly. She hesitated, thinking carefully before replying.

"I see you didn't mention anything in defence against being in league with a demon." She said.

"Well what really can I say? Your mind is so set on that nothing I say will convince you otherwise. And besides, that rumour has been around for a long time, I've given up defending myself against it." Raven replied.

"Guilty conscience setting in perhaps?" Clara persisted.

"No, it's just exhausting. People will believe whatever they want no matter what I say or do." During this whole conversation the rest of us had just been standing here, observing every word, but I got the feeling that it was time to step in.

"Look, Clara, there is no way that we can prove either way about Raven. We will just have to trust her and help her free these people. I believe that much is true at least." James put in before I could say anything. Clara just glared at him.

"I think we all just need a break. Everyone just needs to go home and sleep on it. We will continue this discussion tomorrow." Jonathan said with a note of finality in his voice.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you liked it! Please review!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 7

The following day consisted of Jack's usual jokes, Jimmy's scientific babbling, Tom's constant preparation for a fight, Clara's snide remarks towards Raven, James always saying the wrong thing, Alexander arguing with Jonathan and Alice trying to calm everyone down. So, as you can imagine, it was a bit of a hectic day.

I was observing everyone and everything, just as I usually do. Even though I haven't known her long, I had noticed a slight change in Raven's behaviour. She was stressed and tired, it was obvious; to me at least, that she hadn't slept very well last night, but I could also see in her eyes some of the emotion that she tried to hide and it got me wondering why she bothered, what was so wrong with showing emotion? I guess I would have to know her whole story to be able to truly understand that.

I was currently sat at my computer, trying to work out Raven's true identity. It's something that I've done for many years, and have never gotten any closer to finding out who she is. I scanned through hundreds of identities with the knowledge that I would've found even more possibilities by the time tomorrow rolls around. Maybe I'm just wasting my time, how can you find someone who can change their every feature?

"What's this?" Raven asked from behind me, I was concentrating so much I didn't hear her come up behind me.

"Raven, don't take this the wrong way but-" I began but she interrupted me.

"You're trying to figure out who I am." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I am. I've done this for a while, but you are very difficult to track down." I said to her.

"How close have you gotten?" She asked whilst peering at the screen.

"Not very." I said honestly.

"Need a hand?" I was surprised at her question and didn't know what to say. "Budge up then." She said and I moved my chair over so she could see the computer screen better. "Now I don't know how much Damon erased so I don't know how much I can really help you with. But I can tell you the disguises that I remember." She said to me.

"Raven, you don't need to do this." I told her.

"I know." She said simply.

"Then why are you?" I asked and she sighed.

"I'm helping you figure out who I am and you are questioning it? Have you never heard of the saying don't look a gift horse in the mouth?"

"I have indeed. But I have also heard of the saying that if it's too good to be true, then it most likely is." I said and she smiled.

"You have been observing me Adam, you think I don't notice but I do. I thought it was just because of who I am, or rather who you think I am but then I saw you observing the others as well, and yet they have been a part of your team for years. It confuses me." She said.

"It's just a habit I've picked up over the years, people aren't always who they appear to be."

"Even you?" She asked.

"I will leave that to you to decide."

"You hide emotion, and yet your eyes question when I do the same. Why?" She asked me.

"Because you hide a lot more than just emotion, you hide part of yourself and act how others expect you to because it's easier than dealing with the mistrust when you act in any other way." She was silent for a moment whilst she studied the photos on the computer screen. She created a new folder and labelled it 'Raven', I watched as she started adding photos to it. I looked at the large variety of identities and wondered how she managed to keep up all the time. "Did you ever make a mistake?" I asked and I hoped she knew what I meant.

"Many times, especially at the start, it was difficult getting used to a new town, new people, a new name, a new personality; it was all very difficult to keep up with. And when I saw someone in the street that I knew, I made the mistake of talking to them once; they didn't recognise me and just got confused." She told me.

"Why do you always move around so much? Why do you never settle down? Is it because of the demons?" I asked.

"Mainly yes, I couldn't ever build up strong relationships because it would always end in them getting hurt."

"Did you ever tell anyone who you were?" I asked.

"Mostly yes, it would be far too dangerous to tell anyone the entire truth. Ricky wasn't the first person I told, but each time it always ended the same."

"With you pushing someone off a cliff?" She laughed.

"No, not exactly the same I guess." She said. "I got better at keeping my new identity, and it has now become somewhat of a second nature to me." Raven added.

"Raven, is there someone in particular that you are running from? We can help you, you will be safe here." I said to her.

"Why do you trust me so much?" She asked.

"You haven't given me a reason not to." I said. She looked back at the computer screen.

"I don't remember any of these." She said.

"Thank you."

"Adam, if you figure out my identity, make sure I'm the first one you tell."

"Well of course, but you don't know?" I asked her and she shook her head.

"I don't know if its Damon's doing or that I've had so many disguises that I just don't remember anymore."

"How much do you think Damon removed from your memory?" I asked her.

"He'll erase as much as he has the power to do, to cause maximum trouble." She said. "I need to figure out who he's taken, before it's too late." She added.

"Just remember that you're not alone with this, you have all of us to help you." I told her and she nodded. I saw the sadness and frustration at her memory loss return to her eyes, I decided to change the subject. We talked for hours about anything that wouldn't lead back to the current situation. Non important things like movies and music. The night was getting on and I felt the tiredness setting in. When my eyes were shut I heard Raven move from the chair next to me. I could almost sense her looking over at me, studying me while she thought I was sleeping. I heard material moving against the surface of the chair and then felt my coat being draped over me. She needn't have bothered, vampires don't really get cold, but it was a nice thought.

"If only you remembered me Adam." I heard Raven say softly. As I drifted in to a deep sleep the last thing I heard was the retreat of her footsteps.


	8. Chapter 8

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 8

I woke up still in my office chair; I stretched, picked up my cup and took a drink of my coffee. Realising straight after that it had been there all night and was stone cold. Yuck.

"Adam, good you're awake. You may want to see this." Jimmy said walking in to my office. I nodded and followed him to the main room. We walked in and the first thing I saw was Raven standing in front of two A2 sized boards, one had a map with markings all over it and the other looked somewhat like a timeline. She reached down to pick up her drink and then sighed at the realisation that it was empty. With a flick of her wrist the cup was full of coffee once again.

"That is such a cool trick." Jack said with a smile on his face. "Can you magic me up a cup of coffee?" He asked her and I rolled my eyes. Raven didn't comment but a cup appeared in Jack's hand. He took a sip and his eyes widened. "How did you know I like lemon in my coffee?" He asked bewildered.

"Because, I am amazing." Raven said sarcastically causing him to laugh.

"Raven, what's with the boards?" I asked her.

"Well, this one is all of Damon's property that I can remember. And this is a timetable of events that I can remember, I'm trying to figure out how much he's erased." She explained. I noticed that she looked even more tired than yesterday. "Raven, did you stay here all night doing this?" I asked her.

"If I say yes will you then lecture me on how I need rest etcetera even though we both know I won't listen and will more than likely do it again?" She asked and Jack laughed.

"She's got you down to the mark." He said. Alexander walked over to where she was stood and studied the boards.

"You've missed out some years." He said to her.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"How old are you?" He asked.

"17."

"But you wrote here that you were born in 1989."

"I was." She said, her lack of sleep stopping her from catching on as fast as she would usually. "Wait, that doesn't make sense, that would make me 26."

"So Damon changed your memory of your age?" James asked.

"But what reason could there be, making me think that I'm nine years younger than I actually am?" Raven questioned.

"I don't know, but we sure as hell need to find out. Let's go through some of the events that you remember and see if it triggers any memories." I suggested and she nodded in agreement.

"Aged 0-6 holds nothing of importance that will help us. Age six is when your family were attacked by Damon, aged seven was-" Alexander paused for a moment before he continued. "Aged seven was the first time you met Adam?" He asked and looked at Raven and then me. _"If only you remembered me Adam."_ She had said when she thought I was sleeping. I looked at her and she realised her mistake. She sighed.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet." She said to me. "You knew me as Jane back then." She told me and I couldn't believe my ears.

"Jane?" I asked and she nodded. "That makes sense, you always liked to change your name, was never happy with the one you had." I said. I couldn't detect the expression on her face but she seemed worried about my reaction. I went to her and pulled her in to my arms. I could sense the confusion around us but I didn't care. She needed to know that I still cared for her. I was lost for words so Raven took over.

"Adam looked after me was I was seven, before most of you worked here. Everything was fine at first, but I started to notice the rise in demon attacks heading this way, and I didn't want more people to be hurt because of me. I was also becoming a distraction. Adam couldn't look after me and run this place at the same time. So I left." She explained. I know she didn't mean it to but hearing her explanation of why she left made me feel guilty, it was my fault she left. I had noticed that demon attacks decreased after she left but I thought it was because either they were retreating or because we were cutting down their numbers. I didn't realise they were after her.

"You didn't have to leave." I told her.

"Yes I did."

"I would have protected you." I said.

"But at what cost?" I didn't know how to answer her question.

"Whatever the cost." I stated but this only helped to prove her point. I would have sacrificed myself to save her. "Where did you go?" I asked.

"Maybe we shouldn't get in to that." She replied.

"That bad huh?" I asked, knowing that it must've been, otherwise she would've told me. I wished I had known her thought process at the time. If I had, I could've made things better, stopped her from leaving, and then she wouldn't have been put through so much pain. I wished that I could turn back the clock, but as I can't, I will just have to make it up to her, no matter what.

"What else did you find out?" James asked to change the subject.

"Well some of the areas in my life seem too random to be erased by Damon, they seem too meaningless." Raven said.

"Maybe they are repressed memories?" Jonathan suggested.

"Possibly, but I'm not sure. I've never really been faced by anything that I couldn't handle remembering." Raven said.

"I don't doubt." Alexander said, I wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that though.

We spent the next few hours combing through everything that Raven could remember. Which, as you could imagine led to a fair few arguments. Between them, Clara and Alexander picked up on every little bit of information that Raven didn't want to share. But she didn't give in, nor did she cave to the constant questions and accusations. When it was getting late, and we were still no closer to finding the answers, everyone was exhausted so I dismissed them. There was no point in continuing on through the night, everyone was getting agitated and it would only lead to more arguments.

When everyone was gone, I returned to the main conference room with a fresh cup of coffee to find Raven, standing there staring at the two boards.

"That won't help you remember; you know that, don't you?" I asked.

"I have to try, I can't just go home and rest like you want me to. I have to figure this out; I have to make this right." She said. I stood beside her and looked at the boards.

"Well then at least let me help you." I said to her. We ran every location that she had remembered through our data base, but as there were so many it was going to take a while. I looked to Raven and studied her. I could tell she was tired and yet she refused to sleep, she was strong and determined, and still believed she was alone.

"I know what you're going to say. I can sense your thought process." She said to me.

"Raven I-"

"Couldn't have changed a thing even if you knew the situation." She said, interrupting me. "You shouldn't feel guilt for anything that has happened, I did what I thought was best with the hand I was dealt. I'm sorry if my decision hurt you, but the alternative would've done more damage." She explained.

"You thought I'd be killed?" I asked.

"I _knew _you'd be killed. I had a vision, just like I did just before Damon attacked my family. I figured leaving would prevent your death, and I was right." She said. Silence fell between us; I didn't know what to say. "Did you forget to tell me something Adam?" She asked me, changing the subject. It took me a while to catch on.

"Yes, there is an event tomorrow in honour of Jonathan's daughter." I told her.

"Melanie?"

"No, Sierra. She's been missing since she was young, it's her birthday tomorrow. We hold this event every year; all staff are expected to attend and to be on high alert." I told her.

"Then maybe I should get some rest. See you tomorrow Adam." She said and then disappeared out of sight.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 9

"Raven, what is it?" I asked her alarmed. I couldn't think what would be so urgent that she decided to drag Jonathan and myself to the office at 3am.

"I think I know who the little girl is." She said.

"Really? That's great! Who is it? How did you figure it out?" I asked.

"Ok, well I don't actually know her name, but she looks like this." Raven said as she handed me a drawing. The young girl had straight black hair, and very distinct, pink eyes. I showed the drawing to Jonathan and his own eyes widened.

"Are you sure?" Jonathan choked out.

"I think so yes." She said.

"How do you know?" He asked her.

"She sent me a vision when I was asleep." Raven explained.

"How do you know it wasn't a dream?" I asked, just to be sure.

"It felt too real to be a dream." Raven said and silence fell between us.

"Jonathan, could it be?" I asked him.

"Could it be what?" Raven asked, confused.

"It's too young to be her." Jonathan said.

"You think that little girl is Sierra?" Raven said, catching on rather quickly considering the early hour. I nodded.

"Could she have had a daughter, and that be her?" I asked.

"Maybe, she is 26 today." Jonathan said.

"But isn't the little girl supposed to be something to do with me?" Raven asked, confused.

"Maybe he's using it to screw with both of you at the same time." I suggested.

"If that's true. Then that would make her my granddaughter." Jonathan said.

"And Damon must also know where your daughter is surely." I said.

"But Damon won't tell us anything." Raven said. "But I know what might." She added. She pulled out the Exitium, twisted the points and looked deep in to the golden light. She stared in to it for a few minutes and then snapped it closed.

"Did it tell you anything?" Jonathan asked hopefully.

"Not much, only that the little girl is indeed your granddaughter." Raven said.

"I can't believe it. I have a granddaughter!" Jonathan said happily. But then his smile fell when he remembered who held her captive.

"It wouldn't elaborate on where she is." Raven said. She concentrated for a moment without telling us what she was doing. "And Damon has blocked me from tracing her to a location." She said.

"This is impossible! How the hell are we supposed to find her?" Jonathan said angrily. "Unless…." He said, looking at me.

"Are you serious?" I asked him disbelievingly, he couldn't seriously be suggesting what I thought he was. But he nodded, confirming my thought process.

"Is anyone going to clue me in here?" Raven asked.

"We've been keeping a high level demon captive for many years. Every year, for the event for Sierra's birthday, we keep him in a cage in the middle of the hall." Jonathan told her.

"Why?" Raven asked.

"We hoped that seeing everyone that cared for her would make him give us information." Jonathan said.

"But demons don't have feelings." Raven replied.

"We have begun to notice that." Jonathan said. "We will just have to try and get the information out of him some other way."

"I may be able to help with that. I'm pretty good at getting people to tell me what I want to know." Raven said.

"I can imagine. But for now, we should rest." Jonathan said.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note: I hope you like this chapter, please review!**

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><p>Out of The Darkness<p>

Chapter 10

So far, the event was going as planned. Many were surprised by Raven's attendance though, but she didn't seem to care about the stares and whispers. She stayed away from them and that's all they cared about. I noticed Michael, one of Jonathan's sons, watching her every move. I don't know what he was looking for but he didn't seem pleased that she was here. Raven walked over to the demon's cage and leant against it, with her back to him she propped one foot on the bars and looked around the room.

"Have you come to spring me from this cage?" He whispered to her. I listened from the other side of the room.

"P-lease, you got yourself in to this mess so you can get yourself out of it." She said to him.

"That's not very nice, I did raise you after all." He said and I stared in shock. It was now obvious why Raven wouldn't tell me where she went after she left the agency all those years ago.

"That's neither here or there, a lot of people raised me." Raven replied.

"So why are you here?" He asked her.

"You have information that I want."

"Oh I see, you're on _their _side now." He said.

"You know I have my ways of getting the information out of you, so you may as well tell me." Raven threatened.

"Don't you think you torturing me will draw a bit too much attention from these people?" He questioned. She turned towards him.

"Our conversation has already drawn their attention, but some of them are polite enough to pretend not to be listening." She said as she looked over her shoulder.

"Or they're just too scared." The demon suggested.

"That maybe so, but we are getting off subject. Tell me what you know." She demanded but he remained silent. "So we're really going to do this the hard way?" She asked.

"What exactly do you plan to do? You know that no spell will work on me." He smirked.

"That maybe true, but I wasn't planning on using a spell." She said as she took a knife out of her boot.

"That pathetic little knife won't do much either." He said. She looked him in the eyes and sliced the palm of her hand.

"I wasn't planning on using it on you." She said as she raised her hand, palm facing him. Her blood travelled from her hand through the air towards him. When it landed on his skin it was absorbed instantly.

"And what exactly is that supposed to do?" The demon asked confused.

"You now have five minutes to tell me what I want to know otherwise you will die." She explained.

"How so?" He questioned.

"My blood, when I chose it to be, is poison." Raven said. The demon looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered her.

"Yeah I'm still not going to tell you anything." He said with a shrug.

"Ah yes, always not caring for your own life." Raven said.

"Remind you of anyone?" He asked, clearly referring to Raven.

"Touché. Good job I have a plan B then."

"And that would be?" She smiled at his question.

"Well let's see, Azura, Carabia, Oray and Surgat. Four demons that you needed me to kill because you couldn't." She said as she counted them off on her fingers. "And do you know what else I can do? Bring them back to life." She stage whispered to him. "And I'll transport them right in to your cage." She added.

"You wouldn't." The demon said in disbelief.

"Wouldn't I?" Raven challenged with a smile. "It wouldn't take much for me to kill them again once they were done with you." He just stared at her in shock. "Start talking."

"Sierra is in this room." He said to her. She rolled her eyes at his brief answer. Suddenly he was lifted in to the air and flung to the back of his cage, pinned to the far wall. The bars in front of Raven bent and she walked through the gap, closing them with telekinesis behind her. She marched up to him and leant on her arm so she could get right in his face.

"Give me something useful." She hissed at him.

"She's alive."

"I already know that." She growled impatiently.

"Of course you do, the Exitium told you." He said with a smile.

"How does every demon know about that?"

"Word gets around." He replied.

"But you've been in this cage for years! How the hell do you know?" She asked and he shrugged, deciding to only answer some of her questions. "Fine, tell me more about the girl."

"She's met her father, but doesn't know it. She was raised by demons." He told her.

"Is she evil?" Raven asked, trying to hide her shock caused by this new information.

"You of all people should know how difficult it is to class someone as evil or not. But she tries not to be. Many people fear her."

"Because of her powers?" She asked and he nodded. "More powerful than me?"

"Very difficult to say. Look, that's all I know, I'm sorry I can't tell you anymore." He said to her and she nodded.

"I believe you." She said and all of a sudden he gasped in pain. After a second though, his pain seemed to stop. "Sorry, I forgot to stop my blood from poisoning you." She said.

"That's a cool trick. Is all witches' blood poison?" He asked her.

"No, just mine."

"Can I borrow some sometime?" He asked.

"It doesn't work like that." She told him. She walked away from him and the bars bent apart again, closing once again behind her. She released him from the wall when she was out of his cage.

"Wait, you're really going to leave me in here?" He asked as she once again leant against his cage with her back to him.

"Yes, and don't think that I don't know that you can easily escape yourself. But one thing we both also know, is that if you step outside of these walls, there will be a long line of powerful people waiting to kill you." She said to him. He glared at her back.

"But you could easily ensure my safety." He hinted.

"I owe you nothing." Was her only reply.

"But I gave you information!" He yelled at her in anger.

"I didn't say you would get anything in return." Raven said and the demon growled. He had been gradually creeping towards the edge of his cage as they were speaking. Suddenly, faster than the human eye could see, he had broken one of the bars and had it over Raven's head and against her throat before she could react. He pulled her back against the cage, strangling her. Just as he was about to yank her back harder against the cage she twisted, so when he pulled her she slipped through the gap in the bars and in to the cage with him. As she was turning she managed to escape from his hold. "That wasn't very nice." Raven said to him.

"Did you expect anything less of me?" He asked and lunged at her. She managed to dodge his attack but as soon as she had, he charged at her once again. She used the speed of his attack against him, spun him around and kicked him in the side, to knock him off balance. They both threw and received several punches as we all just stood there watching. He managed to knock her off balance for a single moment and was able to use that to push her against the wall of the cage and stab her with the bar he had previously broken. She glared at him as he pushed it all the way through her stomach, and out the other side. "You can't beat me, you would be wise to remember who taught you to fight." He said to her with a smile.

The bars of his cage then transformed in to transparent walls, sealing them both inside. The demon looked around and then raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"You should also remember that it's been a long time since you've seen me fight, I've learnt a lot since then." She told him as she began to choke on her own blood.

"I doubt that." He said and, grabbing hold of her head, snapped it to the left, efficiently breaking her neck. We all stared in shock as he withdrew the bar and let it fall to the ground with her body.


	11. Chapter 11

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 11

If it could, my heart would be beating 100 times a second right now. I couldn't believe it, Raven was _dead_. I never really thought about that even being a possibility, she just always seemed so indestructible. The demon walked to the other side of his cage with a smile spread wide across his face. When he reached the other side, he waited for a moment. He looked at the walls of the cage in confusion, wondering why they hadn't disappeared, knowing that the spell should've broken when Raven died.

"What the hell?" He asked annoyed.

Behind him a figure rose from the ground, with a glare straight from hell and one that could kill all in sight. She crept forward until she was right behind him.

"Ahem." A voice said right in his ear. He spun round in confusion as he came face to face with the woman that he had just killed. His shock intensified as Raven pushed the bar that he had stabbed her with through his chest. It went straight through his heart and just in case of some miracle on his part, and that didn't kill him, her poisonous blood on the bar would have finished him off. He fell to the ground with a thud and Raven stood there looking at him for a moment. She crouched down over his body and studied him. She reached down and pulled something from around his neck and shoved it in to the pocket of her jeans before anyone could see what exactly it was. As she stood the walls of the cage disappeared and she walked out in to the crowd.

She met every curious glance and glare with one of her own. They parted to let her through, not wanting to appear as a challenger. Whispers surrounded her but she paid no notice. She made her way to me and I led her out of there and away from the wondering eyes. We went straight back to the office, leaving the others to get rid of all the guests and the demon's body.

"Are you ok?" I asked her. I already knew from her test results that she had the ability to accelerate the healing process of her wounds but I didn't know that she could still heal herself if she was _dead_. That was practically unheard of.

"Yes Adam, I am fine."

"I was worried." I said to her.

"There is no reason to be, but I apologise." It didn't take long for the others to burst in.

"Ok, everyone agrees that she has some explaining to do _now_ right?" Clara asked.

"That is understandable Clara, I wasn't going to try and talk my way out of explaining this." Raven said. When everyone had arrived they settled down, ready for the explanation.

"I cannot die. Many people have tried to kill me but no death seems to be permanent." Raven told us.

"Do you know why?" Jonathan asked.

"No, nothing particular happened around the time that I found out. I feel the pain of the death, but then I just wake up again."

"That's incredible." Jimmy said bewildered.

"That's impossible." Alexander added.

Chatter swept through the room, distracting most. That's why, when Raven froze completely, I was the only one to notice. I studied her, waiting for her to snap out of it. I knew there wasn't any danger; she wouldn't have frozen if there was. She would have jumped straight in to action as she always did. She snapped out of it, picked up a piece of paper and a pen off the desk and began to draw. It only took her a moment to finish the drawing and then she studied it. She put two fingers to her lips and whistled; rather high pitched I might add, in order to get everyone's attention. It worked though, everyone turned her way after wincing slightly at the sound. She pinned the picture to the board behind her.

"Does anyone know who this is?" She asked.

"That's Adrian." Jonathan told her.

"And he is…?" Raven asked.

"He's an angel, what makes you ask?" Jonathan questioned.

"He's Damon's other hostage." She replied.

"Another vision?" I asked, piecing things together.

"Sort of, it wasn't sent to me, it was as if it was an accident." She said.

"Did either of them say anything?" I asked her.

"Yes, hang on a moment, I'll show you, it will be easier." She turned, took the drawing she did down, put her fingers to her temples and the board turned in to what looked like a Television screen. She stepped to the side as a picture started to form.

There was Adrian and the little girl sat in a cell, with chains around their wrists and ankles.

"Why do you think she hasn't come for us yet?" The little girl asked Adrian, we still didn't know her name.

"I'm not sure, but if she doesn't then I know someone who will." He told her.

"Well I certainly hope so, for your sake." A voice said, who I recognised as Damon. We couldn't see him; he was just out of sight.

"What do you mean by that?" Adrian asked him.

"Well…I might have erased the two of you from her memory." He told them and they stared at him in shock.

"She will remember us, I know she will." Adrian said determined.

"And how do you propose she will do that? There is a limit to her power you know." Damon taunted him.

"You aren't the first to doubt her, but it will end the same as it always does, with death. And not hers either." Adrian warned. Damon just laughed in reply.

"I doubt that very much." Was Damon's only response.

It ended there and the screen disappeared, once again showing just the usual board.

"And you still don't remember them?" I asked Raven and she shook her head.

"No I don't but I have an idea to help us find out where they are. The girl managed to send me a message and now I've got a clip that she didn't even mean to send me. If I send a bit more power her way then she can completely draw me in to her mind, allowing me to hear her thoughts, and to see everything that she can see. Damon must let them out of that cage at some point; I will just have to wait until he does." She explained.

"Is that dangerous?" I asked.

"No, and I will be able to see how many guards are there, and the layout of the building. I may even be able to transport myself there through her mind, and get them out like that." Raven said.

"Will you be able to transport us there with you? I'm not entirely happy with you going in to Damon's lair alone." I said to her.

"I won't be able to do that Adam, and there is no need to worry about me, I can't die remember?" She mentioned.

"No, but you can still be captured." I pointed out.

"This may be the only way to get them back Adam." She told me, and I had no angle in which to argue with her.


	12. Chapter 12

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 12

Early the next morning when I arrived at the office Raven was already there. She was staring in to the Exitium so I stopped still, not wanting to disturb her. She snapped it shut a moment later.

"What were you looking for?" I asked, announcing my presence.

"Just seeing if it had anything helpful to tell me. It didn't." She told me.

"Any more visions from the girl?" I asked.

"No. But we have all the information we need. It's just knowing the best time to attack." During our conversation the rest of our usual group of agents arrived, some looking more alert than others.

"How long have you two been here?" Jake asked us.

"A while." Raven replied. I didn't find out how long she had actually been here, or if she even left for the night. I started to wonder if she actually had a home. I would have to ask her that at one point. But not when the others were there though, she wouldn't like everyone knowing her business.

"How can you be so awake? It's far too early." Jake said with a yawn.

"Well if you hadn't been up playing video games all night then you wouldn't feel so tired." Alice said with a laugh.

"What makes you think I was-" Jake began but his brother interrupted him.

"There's no point in denying it brother." Jack said with a laugh.

"Ok you three, enough messing around. Do we have a plan yet?" Jonathan asked before the twins could say anything more.

"We may have one after they have said what they came to." Raven said.

"Who?" I asked and she nodded in the direction of the doors. Just then six men transported in, all of us, with the exception of Raven, tensed for an attack. But when we realised that they were all angels, and not here to harm us, we relaxed again.

"Jonathan we need to speak with you-." The leader, Alistair began but paused when he saw Raven. "What on Earth is _she_ doing here?"

"Greetings." Raven said with a smile.

"Alistair, there is no need to panic, she works here." Jonathan told the new arrivals.

"What!" Alistair yelled. "Are you insane?"

"Look, we've already been through all of this so you will just have to trust my judgement." Jonathan told them.

"I'm starting to think that your judgement is seriously impaired Jonathan." Alistair said disapprovingly.

"_Was_ there a reason you came here or was it just to check up on everyone?" Raven asked, clearly enjoying the angels' discomfort at her being here. Alistair glared at her in reply.

"Yes there was. But it doesn't concern you. Jonathan, one of our people have gone missing, we were hoping that you would help us." Alistair said. Another two people transported in then, another angel who was holding a young girl by the arm, who was on the floor. "Ben, why did you bring her here?"

"You didn't tell me what to do with her." He replied with a shrug. I could see Raven out of the corner of my eye as she rose from her seat, not looking pleased.

"Alicia?" Raven asked the girl and her head snapped round to look at her. She didn't seem to recognise Raven though as her eyes filled with confusion. Raven noticed this and within a second her appearance changed so her hair was a fiery red and her eyes staying the usual brown.

"Abby?" The girl on the floor asked, still confused.

"Yes, it's me." Raven said to her reassuringly.

"I thought you were dead."

"Many people do." Raven replied.

"Abby, I didn't do it, I swear."

"I know, don't worry." Raven tried to reassure her.

"They're going to kill me." Alicia said, obviously scared.

"No they aren't, I won't let them." Raven said determined.

"I guess it shouldn't surprise me that you know her." Alistair said to Raven. She didn't answer him, just raised one eyebrow and then turned to Ben, who still had hold of the girl. She took slow steps towards him until she was right in his face.

"Don't make me hurt you." She threatened him. He swallowed hard and looked to Alistair for help.

"Don't you _dare_." He said to Ben. Raven sighed and grabbed Ben by his throat and lifted him off the ground. "You let go of him." Alistair demanded.

"Shut up." Raven hissed in reply. She took a few steps forward and placed Ben back on the ground when he was far enough away from the girl. She turned back and lifted Alicia to her feet and moved her away from the angles. When she was happy with the distance between them she turned back to Alistair. "So here's the deal, I'll get your angel back and then you will drop all charges against the girl."

"We don't do deals with demons." Was Alistair's reply.

"Good job I'm not a demon then."

"And if we don't agree to your 'deal'?" He asked her.

"Then I'll still take Alicia, I'll save the young girl that Damon has captive but leave your angel there. Oh and I'll kill any of you that get in my way." She threatened and the room was silent for a moment.

"How do you know the demon?" Alistair was the first to break the silence.

"He's been trying to kill me for the past 21 years." She told him.

"Why is this girl, Alicia, so important to you?" He asked her.

"Because I know that she's innocent, she doesn't even have any powers. You are more than likely looking for her sister." Raven said.

"What makes you say that?"

"From past experience." She replied.

"How does she not have any powers?" Alistair questioned her.

"Her twin sister tricked her in to giving her powers to her a few years back."

"I still don't trust you." He told her.

"That's fine, I don't trust you either. But we both have something to loose, or rather someone, so we will just have to accept the situation." Raven said.

"Fine." Alistair said as he held out his hand.

"Fine." Raven repeated and shook his hand, very business-like.

Well this was certainly going to be interesting.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please review and let me know what you think!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 13

With the angels in the office as well as the rest of us it was beginning to get a bit cramped. There was a suggestion that they should leave and then just come back when Raven has rescued Adrian and the young girl but she won't let them take Alicia away and they don't trust Raven enough to leave her here. She is, after all the only leverage they have to ensure Raven rescues Adrian for them. I did notice that no one from out agency mentioned that she was planning on saving him anyway. Even though she told them that she would leave him there I don't think she would. She knows Damon and how cruel he is, and would never leave anyone as his hostage.

"So is anyone going to tell us your plan to get them back?" Alistair asked and in my peripheral vision I saw many eyes land on Raven, as if they were waiting for her permission before they said anything. "Well?" He asked, getting impatient. Raven sighed before answering.

"It's very simple. I'm going to enter the young girl's mind and give her enough power to pull me to their location. From there I will kill the demons and bring the hostages back here." Raven said.

"Is it really going to be as simple as you make it sound?" One of the other angels, that I didn't know the name of, asked.

"_Quiet_ Blake." Alistair warned him.

"Alistair, I think I have the right to know how difficult the rescue of my brother will be." Blake said to him.

"I have absolutely no idea. It could go either way really." Raven told him, completely unconcerned.

"But you will be able to get them back right?" Blake asked her, Raven's unconcerned attitude unnerving him.

"Of course." Raven said more serious. He looked her in the eyes for a moment until he found something that reassured him.

"Thank you." Blake said sincerely and she nodded in reply. As the day went on we all seemed to be waiting for Raven's confirmation on when the best time would be to strike. As usual, I observed Raven, still trying to figure her out. We had been looking for her for years, and then she just turned up on our doorstep. Whilst most others think it was to cause trouble I reckon it was more because she herself needed help, and didn't know where else to turn. If I hadn't been paying close attention then I would have missed what happened next.

Raven froze and her gaze seemed to become distant. After a moment she snapped out of it, got up from her seat and went to stand in the middle of the room. Those who were used to Raven quieted down and turned to her. But those who weren't continued as they were. With her patience growing thin, Raven put two of her fingers to her lips and whistled, very high pitched, which succeeded in getting everyone's attention.

"We have to recover a sword." Was all she said.

"What sword?" Alistair asked.

"The one that you showed Jonathan a picture of earlier and tried to hide from my view. Damon is after it, I don't know why he wants it but if we go get it now, then when he goes to retrieve it later this evening I can rescue the hostages." She told us.

"That all sounds great but we don't know where it is." Alistair told her.

"You may not but I do." She said with a smile.

"And I'm guessing you're not going to tell me where it is either?" He asked her.

"Got it in one. We will go retrieve it while you wait here." Raven told him.

"Considering how important this sword is I think that we should go with you." Alistair argued.

"I don't care for your opinion." Raven stated simply and then she transported her, myself, Alice, Clara, Jack, Jake and Tom out of the room, leaving Jonathan to deal with the angry angels. She first took us to the store room to collect supplies. We grabbed weapons, energy bars, water and anything else we thought we might need. "Now to get the sword." Raven said as the walls around us disappeared.

I looked around at our new surroundings and I could feel the confusion in the air.

"Why are we in a desert?" Jake asked the question that we were all thinking. I looked to Raven for an explanation but she was muttering something. Suddenly caves rose from the ground.

"Man that is _so_ cool!" Jack said like an excited child.

"Be prepared, there is no way to tell what protects the sword." Raven told us.

As expected Raven took the lead while Alice and I had her flanks, Jake and Tom had our backs and then Clara and Jack held up the rear. We entered the cave slightly weary, except Raven who had her usual calm about her. With a flick of her fingers fire-lit torches illuminated our path.

"What kind of things _could_ be protecting the sword?" Jake asked in a tone that didn't make him sound completely worried, but not exactly at ease either.

"Spells, enchantments, curses, creatures, traps, lasers, trap doors, ghosts, that kind of thing." Raven listed.

"How exactly are we going to fight ghosts?" Jake asked and I could almost sense Raven rolling her eyes.

"We don't, we set them free. It is believed that ghosts are simply trapped souls. Of course not many people figure out the remedy of this and just run away screaming like a little girl." Raven said.

We continued in to the caves and water swallowed our path.

"Water? Really? This is seriously supposed to stop us? I guess they aren't as smart as you think Raven." Jack said amused as he approached the water. Before he got there Raven threw a stone in to the water and at first touch electricity ran across the surface of the water and fried the stone. "Ok that certainly does make things trickier." Jack admitted and nodded thanks to Raven. She picked up another stone and threw it in to the air, and we all watched as it landed safely on the other side.

"The air is not enchanted, we will have to levitate." Raven told us simply. She muttered something under her breath and we were all lifted in to the air and carried to the other side. As soon as we touched down we continued, wanting to waste no time. After all, we didn't know how far in to the caves the sword was hidden or what lay in our path.

It wasn't long before we found out though. Next we encountered a bed of snakes, levitation wasn't the answer this time though as there were more snakes hanging from the walls and ceiling. Alice took a flute out of her bag and started to play. The snakes looked mesmerized and soon parted so we could get past them.

Next we encountered moving walls with steel spikes sticking out of them. The walls were moving too fast for us to simply run past them.

"How do we get past these?" Jake asked, not seeing a solution.

"Simple." Was all Raven said as she motioned us far back from the walls. When she decided we were a safe distance away she pulled two bundles of explosives out of her bag. She threw one at each wall and they exploded on contact, damaging the walls and disintegrating the spikes. The explosion caused the walls to stop moving and allow us to pass.

We came across many more obstacles and I could tell it was starting to get on everyone's nerves.

"This is so cool" It's like we're in a spy movie!" Ok, everyone's nerves except Jack's.

He was right though, the lasers would be suited for a spy movie, and we solved that problem with mirrors just like most actually _would_ in a movie. We then came to what I hoped was the last obstacle.

"A volcano? Are you actually kidding me?" Clara asked annoyed. So far our journey had been long and tiring, it was starting to take a toll on everyone, even Jack. Although Raven managed to still look completely fine, and not in the least bit affected. But as most would say, the volcano was kind of taking the piss. "Is it possible for you to use that levitation spell that you used earlier?" Clara asked Raven. In reply she muttered the spell but nothing happened. She then flicked her fingers but just like the first time, nothing happened.

"No, magic is blocked. We will have to climb." Raven told us.

"I really hope this volcano isn't active." Jake commented.

"It's been dormant for centuries. " Raven said.

"Well that's brilliant." Jake replied with a smile of relief.

"But of course, this entire place is run by magic and not nature so really it could erupt at any moment with no warning." She added.

"And that's not so good." Jake frowned.

We began the treacherous climb. The side of the volcano was difficult to grip, even for a vampire as old and skilled as me. It took about an hour to climb, which proves just how tall it was, and we were all exhausted when we got to the top. All of us except for Raven collapsed to rest; she had her eyes trained on something the rest of us hadn't noticed yet. I followed her gaze and saw the sword floating in mid-air, above the middle of the volcano. After the others had finished having some water they joined Raven and I staring at the sword.

"How the hell are we supposed to get that?" Tom asked, speaking for the first time since we started this journey. Raven looked down at the bubbling lava beneath us and then back at the sword. She took the Exitium out of her pocket, opened it and placed it right on the edge of the volcano. As soon as she did a thin piece of rope started floating out of it towards the middle of the volcano, towards the sword.

"I thought magic wouldn't work?" Clara asked.

"It doesn't run on magic, it runs on life force, on energy." Raven explained.

Once the rope had reached the sword Raven put one foot on it.

"Raven what the _hell_ are you doing? You can't do that, you'll fall and die!" I tried to talk some sense in to her. "And don't bother telling me you can't die because you come back to life in the exact place that you die, so you would just keep being burned alive." I told her before she could say anything.

Ignoring me she placed her other foot on the rope, getting her balance.

"I have to." Was all she said.

We all watched silently as she made her way across. She didn't wobble once, as if she was a professional trapeze artist. I breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the sword, but it wasn't over yet. As soon as she touched the sword the entire place began to shake. The volcano rumbled and we all stared down at the lava in worry.

Suddenly, the side of the volcano where we were stood shook violently, causing Clara to fall off the edge, soaring towards the lava at an alarming rate.

"Raven!" I yelled, hoping she could do something. She looked down and saw Clara falling and her eyes widened. She looked around for a moment until she figured something out. She slid the sword in to a sheath on her back and with a determined look on her face, crouched down, grasped the rope in her hand and jumped.

I watched as Raven swung on the rope towards Clara and grabbed her out of the air. But they were then heading towards the wall of the volcano. Raven stuck her legs out to stop them from hitting the side.

Then, whilst holding Clara in one arm Raven wrapped the rope around her fist and used her legs to walk then up the wall towards us. They were fairly close to the lava so it must've been roasting. But all I could see was the pure determination in Raven's eyes. When they reached the top we pulled Clara out of Raven's arms and to safety and then pulled Raven up after. Standing, she placed the Exitium back in her pocket as we stared at her in shock.

"Thank you." Clara said to Raven and I could see the sincerity in her eyes.

"You're welcome." Raven replied with a smile.

It was a nice moment considering they are usually arguing but we didn't have long to enjoy it as the volcano started to shake again.

"This is going to be a bumpy ride." Jake said stating the obvious as the side of the volcano that we were stood on collapsed, sending us flying towards the ground. We hit the ground with a crash but didn't have long to recover. As one of the sides of the volcano had gone the lava was spilling out towards us. Good job we were all trained to withstand fierce conditions and injuries as we had to jump straight up and start running.

We made our way back through the caves and towards the obstacles that we had conquered earlier. Thankfully the mirrors were still in place stopping the lasers and the walls were still destroyed so we were able to pass them with no problem. But the snakes were a bit trickier, they were back blocking our path. Alice pulled her flute out and started playing a more urgent tune than earlier, causing the snakes to move faster. As soon as we reached the water we were lifted in to the air by Raven's levitation spell and touched down the other side without breaking pace. The water had been too much for us to cross but it was no match for the lava that was still hot on our tail. We raced around the winding tunnels trying to find our way back to the entrance. Thankfully Raven was leading us and she had an impeccable memory so we managed not to get lost.

We were almost there and it was as if the lava had a mind of its own as it seemed to pick up speed. I had already figured out that the lava was also powered by magic as it only followed our path, it didn't go down a tunnel that we had passed by.

"We need to run faster!" Raven yelled back at us and we all picked up speed. We reached the opening to the cave and we welcomed the blinding light of the sun after the dimly lit caves. As soon as we were out Raven turned, checked we all made it and then transported us back to the office a second before the lava would have crashed down on us.

When we saw that we were all safe back in the office we gave out a victory cheer. And of course Alistair decided to ruin our happy atmosphere.

"Where on Earth have you been?" He yelled angrily and Raven stepped forward as if challenging him.

"We went to get the sword of course." She said to him.

"I told you I wanted us to go with you." He replied, still furious.

"And I told you that I don't care for your opinion. With your people there as well we may not have all gotten out alive. There would have been too many of us." Raven tried to explain.

"Well at least give me the sword." He glared at her. There was a slight pause as Raven tried to decide whether or not to obey his blatant order. She shrugged, reached behind her, pulled the sword out of the sheath and handed it to him. As soon as he touched it the sword turned red, as if it was angry.

"Ouch!" He yelled as he dropped the sword. "It burned me! What did you do to it?" Instantly blaming Raven.

"I did nothing. It is simply your heritage rejecting it." She explained.

"What do you mean?" Clara asked, not understanding.

"With this sword the holder becomes the ultimate destroyer, and angels are supposed to be pure and mean no harm, and therefore would have no reason for such a weapon." Raven told her.

"But I just want to keep it safe, so it doesn't fall in to the wrong hands." Alistair explained.

"I know that, but the sword doesn't." Raven pointed out.

"In that case, as you can hold the sword, does that mean you _do_ have a reason for needing it?" He questioned her and she sighed.

"Like the Exitium, the sword can only have one owner, one controller." I interrupted their conversation. Raven looked at me and raised her eyebrow. "You didn't know?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"I don't know about every object that can destroy things. I just knew that Damon wanted it, and therefore we had to get it." She told me.

"I don't believe you." Alistair said bluntly. "She is simply using this agency so she can gain dangerous artefacts!" He yelled. "It is _obvious_." He added. Sighing and rolling her eyes in annoyance Raven decided to ignore him. "I know your game missy." He hissed in her face.

"Alistair, you have no way to prove that so stop blaming Raven for everything." Michael said.

"What did you just say to me?" Alistair yelled furiously.

"My son is right." Jonathan said calmly. "If you cannot be civil, then you can leave until Raven rescues Adrian and the young girl." He added.

"We have already discovered that situation won't work out." Alistair told him.

"Alicia can stay in my custody." Jonathan said. Alistair paused before speaking again, thinking carefully about what he said next so he didn't insult Jonathan. "Disagreeing with this would mean that you don't trust me either."

"Of course I trust you." Alistair replied.

"So it's sorted." Jonathan declared.

"Fine." Alistair said and all but one of the angels disappeared in a flash.

"I would like to stay, if that is ok." Blake said to Jonathan.

"That is fine." Jonathan told him.

We all rested and tended to our wounds while we waited. We would all need our energy in case anything went wrong. After two hours Raven said two words that instantly got our attention.

"It's time."

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><p><strong>AN: Please review!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 14

Within 15 minutes we had every piece of armour and every weapon that we owned laid out for Raven to pick which ones she would need. Although considering she held the sword that made her the ultimate destroyer I don't really know what we had that could be that. She went through picking up a few things and testing them out. By the end of it she had a variety of guns, knives, lasers, explosives and poisoned darts.

"Are you really going to need all of this?" James asked her.

"I have no idea, but it's better to be prepared. In all honesty, I don't know if any of this will be of any help. After all, I haven't managed to beat him yet." She replied.

"You don't sound quite as confident as you did before." Alistair pointed out, Jonathan had notified the angels that Raven was about to rescue the hostages.

"Oh I will beat him. I'm just keeping a level head, not getting too over-confident." Raven replied. She walked to the front of the room and traced a large rectangle in the air. "With this you will be able to see everything that goes on, without being restricted by what only I can see. I have also made it so you will be able to hear all telepathic conversations I have." Raven explained to us.

I pulled her aside for a moment before she left.

"Raven, please don't do anything stupid, make sure you get out of there alive." I said to her.

"I will do what is necessary." Was her only reply.

She stepped back and closed her eyes. I could feel magic build up in the air around me and the screen came to life. Adrian and the young girl were in the same cell as before, with their ankles and wrists bound by chains. There were two guards standing watch, but there were bound to be more nearby. Raven hadn't told us her exact plan, but I trusted her to do what she saw was best.

'_Don't react to my voice. I'm going to get you out of here but there is something I need you to do.' _Raven spoke directly in to the young girl's mind. Just as Raven had instructed her, she didn't move a muscle, or react in any way. _'I need you to get out of this room, somewhere private.' _Raven told her.

'_How?' _The girl asked her.

'_They have to let you use the bathroom right?' _Raven asked without pause, she had already pre-thought this part. We watched the screen as the girl got to her feet, she wobbled slightly as she rose. Adrian as well as the guards looked at her when she stood.

"Sit down." One of the guards said harshly. The young girl cleared her throat before she spoke.

"I need to use the bathroom." She told them clearly.

The guards stepped towards her menacingly and she looked as if she were going to flinch back in fear.

'_Don't be afraid, I will not let them hurt you.'_ Raven whispered in to her mind and her words seemed to give the girl courage as when the guards approached her, she stepped forward, staring them straight in the eye.

"Fine, come on." One said and opened the cell, and unlocked the chains around her wrists and ankles. "But no funny business." One of the guards led her down the hallway to the bathroom whilst the other stayed to guard Adrian. The guard was going to follow her in until she turned and raised an eyebrow.

"A little privacy please?" She said sweetly and he nodded, stepping back and allowing her to close the door.

'_Ok, I'm alone. What's the plan?'_ She asked Raven in her mind.

'_I'm going to channel enough energy through me and in to you so I can transport to your location. You mustn't say anything to me when I arrive, I don't want anyone to over-hear, only speak to me via your mind. Do you understand?'_

'_Yes. But be quick, otherwise they will get suspicious.'_ The girl replied.

There was a surge of magic in the room again, centred on Raven. After just a moment, Raven disappeared, and re-appeared in the young girl's location. As soon as she was in front of the girl she wrapped her arms around Raven. Surprised, she returned the girl's hug. They pulled apart and the young girl took on a 'let's get down to business' expression, which reminded me a hell of a lot like Raven's usual expression.

'_What's the plan?'_ She asked Raven telepathically.

'_This._' Raven replied and transformed her looks so she was completely identical to the young girl. She looked confused for a moment but then understanding shone in her eyes.

'_You're going to go out there as me and then beat the crap out of them?'_ She asked Raven.

'_Not quite, and I don't think you should be using that kind of language.'_ Raven replied, sounding very authoritative. _'Just follow my lead ok?'_ She asked and the girl nodded.

Just then the guard burst in.

"Hey what's taking so long-? Wait, what's going on here?" The guard asked confused.

"This." Raven said pulling out the sword that made her unbeatable and charged towards him. The guard managed to grab her arms and hold them behind her back within seconds. I was wondering what the hell was going on, Raven would never be taken down so easily, almost without a fight. It must be part of the plan.

"Now you, walk in front, and don't try anything." The guard said to the girl.

'_Do as he says, it's all part of the plan.'_ Raven told her telepathically, confirming my guess. They got back to the room where Adrian was still locked up in, the other guard turned around in confusion.

"You didn't mention you had twin daughters Adrian." One guard said to him.

'_Play along.'_ Raven told him telepathically and fixed him with a look.

"Well you already had one of my daughters, I wasn't about to give you a free ticket to the other one." He said to them.

"What's going on?" A voice said behind them, which I recognised as Damon's.

"It turns out, the angel has twin daughters. And the second one showed up with this, trying to be the hero." He said, holding up the sword that we had recovered earlier today. He had wrapped it in a torn piece of clothing, knowing that the sword only had one controller, and not wanting to risk any reaction the sword might have to changing hands.

Damon studied Raven intensely, but she didn't give anything away, didn't even move a muscle.

"Is that so?" He asked, still looking at Raven. He took a few steps forward until he was staring down at her.

"Something like that." Raven said and in a flash her hand shot up and dove in to his chest, his eyes widened in shock. Raven pulled her hand out of his chest and when she opened her fist we could see the demon's heart still beating, dripping with blood. It was impossible of course, hearts couldn't just beat of their own accord, and no one could still be alive without their heart.

"Raven." Damon snarled.

"The one and only." She said sweetly as she transformed her looks back to how we were used to her looking.

"You wouldn't." Damon growled.

"Are you really in the position to challenge me Damon?" She asked with a devilish look in her eyes.

"Guards." Damon summoned. Raven looked around the room once and all of his guards dropped to the ground dead. "I guess I'm not the only one that hides power." Damon added, no doubt wondering how she managed to kill his guards with a single look.

"I guess not." She replied coldly. I didn't quite understand what was going on, but we watched impatiently as Raven took one more look at Damon, raised her arm, and put his heart in her mouth. With every time she chewed his heart, Damon visibly grew weaker. They met each other's eyes, his held hopelessness, hers held murder. She did not feel any sympathy for him, but of course he didn't deserve it. When she swallowed the remains of his heart he fell to the ground, dead.

More of his guards appeared then, just moments too late and stared in shock at Raven. They crouched in to fighting positions, baring their teeth at Raven. "Are you seriously going to do this? I killed your leader, you are weaker than him. Just because there are more of you does not mean I will lose." Raven said clearly. "Most of you must have families, leave now and you can return to them. I don't really care either way, I have no family so failure does not matter to me, and neither do your deaths." There was a moment of silence whilst they thought about what she said.

Some stood tall out of their fighting positions. More followed, realising their lack of chances. Raven nodded to those who had surrendered and they transported themselves out. She turned towards those who were left and picked her sword up off of the floor, where it fell when she killed the guard. Many recognised it of course, and those who no longer fancied their chances with Raven having that sword disappeared also.

Those who stayed charged towards Raven as one and as they did she pushed the young girl back behind her. Raven made quick work of the challengers, having them all on the ground dead within a few minutes.

She approached Adrian's cell and pulled away three of the bars, allowing her to enter. She crouched down and snapped the chains with ease.

"Can you walk?" She asked him and he nodded. They stepped out of the cage and joined the young girl. "Time to head back."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please review!<strong>


	15. Chapter 15

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 15

The rectangle screen disappeared as Raven, Adrian and the young girl arrived in the office. Raven instantly turned to Alistair.

"I held up my end of the deal, your turn." Adrian and the young girl looked at her confused.

"Fine." Alistair said and allowed Alicia to walk to Raven.

"Go home to your family, you won't be bothered anymore." Raven told her and transported her out of the room.

"What's going on?" The young girl asked Raven but she just looked confused. "You can't seriously pretend that that's the only reason why you rescued us." She added.

"But it is." Was Raven's short reply which brought tears to the girl's eyes.

"She doesn't remember us." She whispered. "Daddy, why doesn't she know who we are?" The young girl asked Adrian.

"Damon erased most of her memories." I answered for him.

The young girl and Raven were staring at each other, the girl's eyes filled with sadness, and Raven's filled with confusion.

"What do we do?" The girl asked Adrian.

"We just have to help her remember us." He replied.

"But _how?_ She doesn't _remember_ us dad! She doesn't remember _me_." The young girl yelled and then ran out of the room. All eyes went to Raven. The room was silent, everyone waiting for someone to speak.

"Raven, you still have blood around your lips." Alexander said critically. Slowly, as if to wind him up, she raised her finger to her lips, wiped the blood off and then ran her tongue over her finger slowly. Alexander looked disgusted.

"That's the only way to kill his kind isn't it?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, I certainly don't eat people's hearts for fun you know." Raven replied.

"It was completely hard core though! The look on his face was just the _best_." Jack commented which, as usual, was followed by laughter from others.

"Do you know how many of his kind there are?" I asked her.

"I think they're all dead now, I only knew of his family. His mother was human and his father killed her in a fit of rage." She told us.

"What happened to his father?" Jonathan asked.

"I killed him when Damon killed my family. Then he killed hundreds of innocent people, and I killed him." Raven replied.

"So you have no idea who they are?" I asked and she shook her head, knowing exactly to whom my thoughts had led me to.

"Shouldn't the spell on your memory have broken when he died?" Clara asked.

"He must've cast a spell to prevent that." Raven said.

"So he's screwing with you from the grave? _So_ medieval." Jack added in.

"I might have something that could help you. I come from a long line of powerful witches; I can have a look in the archives to see if I can find a spell to help you." Clara explained, I'm sure that her offer surprised some, considering she's had it out for Raven since the beginning, but she did save her life after all.

"Thank you Clara." Raven said sincerely. Clara nodded in reply and transported out of the room.

Just as she disappeared from sight, a woman with jet black hair appeared in almost the same place that she was in. I recognised her instantly as Jonathan's wife Maya. Jonathan turned to her with a surprised smile.

"Jonathan dear –" His wife began. Even though I was curious about this news my attention, was as usual, drawn to Raven. She had fixed Maya with a look that I didn't entirely understand at first, I presumed that this was the first time they had met, but by the look on her face, I'd say perhaps not. As I paid very close attention, I noticed subtle differences in her demeanour. Her entire body tensed, starting with her shoulders, her brown eyes darkened and I could almost see the thoughts passing by them. Then, her eyes turned completely black, which caused myself and Alexander to freeze as we remembered what Raven had told us a while back.

My eyes flicked between Raven and Maya, but my reaction was too slow. Raven launched herself at Maya and that's, as they say, when the shit really hit the fan.


	16. Chapter 16

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 16

It took seven of us to pin Raven to the ground, and even then she almost managed to over-power us. I was trying to calm her down, intending to find the smallest amount of reasoning behind her attack on Maya. Jonathan however, wasn't so patient. He kneeled over her with his hands around her throat. Usually he is very reasonable and patient but considering she just attacked his wife, you could imagine the frame of mind that he was currently in.

"Raven. What. Is. Your. _Problem_?" Jonathan asked her through gritted teeth. She struggled some more, her eyes still glued to Maya.

"Raven, please. Just calm down and explain." I tried to reason with her.

"She's a demon ok, a _demon_!" Raven yelled.

"What are you talking about? My wife is not a demon!" Jonathan said outraged.

"Well I saw her die! She was the first person I _ever_ saw die. If she's not a demon then explain to me how she's alive!"

"When did you see her die Raven?" I asked her calmly.

"When Damon killed her." She told me.

"I healed her wounds." Jonathan said and Raven glared at him.

"And no one else?" Raven accused.

"What do you mean by that?" Jonathan asked.

"Hundreds of people died that day and you only brought her back because you love her. You're the most selfish person I've ever met."

"Well I couldn't just leave her there dead." Jonathan said with sadness in his eyes.

"And then you kept her a secret, how loving of you. Let me ask you something, did you look around for your daughter? Maybe if you weren't so distraught about your wife then you might've found her, she probably stuck around for a while even when her mother told her to run."

"You sound all knowing about something you have no clue about." Jonathan said angrily.

"Maybe I know more than you think." Raven said.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Jonathan repeated his earlier question. I saw out of the corner of my eye Adrian's daughter step forward.

"So now that we know Maya isn't a demon and Raven isn't a suicidal lunatic shall we direct our attention to the approaching demons?" She asked calmly. I was surprised by her maturity considering she is only about five or six years of age. Raven sat up in surprise, even though there were still seven people trying to hold her down.

"You can sense demons from that far away?" Raven asked her.

"Apparently." The young girl replied. Raven met her eyes and said only two words.

"Battle stations." Raven drew two swords from their sheaths that were strapped to her back and threw one to the young girl. They went back to back to face any opponents that would arrive.

"You're really going to let a little girl fight demons?" Jonathan asked disbelievingly.

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing. I wouldn't put her in harm's way if I didn't think she could handle it." Was Raven's only reply. A moment later eight demons transported in to the office. Without hesitation Raven sliced the head off of the nearest demon. She took out two more and then my attention drifted to the young girl, I wondered who trained her and how she had so much power in her for someone so young. It was as if she was a miniature Raven.

As I watched the demons fall to the ground four more arrived. They were dealt with just as quickly as the last, with Raven and the young girl working together, as if they had done it a thousand times before. Another lot of demons transported in and Raven seemed to change her demeanour. I saw something flash across her eyes. She had a plan.

"Remember what I taught you?" Raven asked but her question confused me, who was she talking to? I realised a moment later when I saw the young girl nodding.

"Of course." She replied. They linked arms and Raven leant forward lifting the young girl in to the air, spinning around so she could take the demons out by kicking them in the head. This move took them by surprise, many necks were broken. When all the demons were dead Raven waved her fingers through the air which then seemed to shimmer. "You blocked the entrance they were coming from?" The young girl asked her.

"Of course." Raven said, repeating the young girl's reply to her previous question with a smile. "Good job kid, you did well."

"Thanks." She replied, also with a smile and Raven wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "You're beginning to remember me." The young girl stated.

"It would seem that way. Let's just hope the rest of my memories don't take too long to surface." Raven crouched down to her level. "That pain in your eyes is killing me." She whispered to her whilst brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear.


	17. Chapter 17

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 17

Over the next few days Raven made more of an effort to talk to Adrian and the young girl. My thoughts are that Raven's memory could be triggered by different situations or possibly even a word or phrase that is familiar to her.

To be quite honest I have no idea what _should _work, hence we shall try everything until something _does_ works. However, it wasn't going well.

"I don't understand why you can't even tell me her name." Raven said annoyed.

"You need to remember by yourself." Adrian replied exasperated, this wasn't the first time they had argued over this.

"But maybe knowing her name would trigger my memory!" Raven argued. Adrian sighed. Raven gave up on that approach for now and just decided to summarise what she already knew. "Ok ok, so I know that for some reason I trained her, which means she probably isn't an angel." Raven guessed. Adrian nodded. "And why is that? I presumed you would want your daughter to follow in your footsteps."

"Her mother didn't want her to be an angel." Adrian explained.

"And would I be right in guessing that you aren't going to tell me who her mother is either?" Raven questioned.

"That's right." This time it was Raven's turn to sigh. Then I could see an idea come to her.

"You don't want me to remember do you?" Adrian looked hurt by her accusation.

"What! Of course I do. How could you accuse me of such a thing?" Adrian asked shocked.

"Well can you blame me? I'm not very popular amongst the angels as it is and you're not even being in the least bit helpful." Raven justified her question. Adrian leaned towards her, which resulted in Raven leaning back away from him with a raised eyebrow. Adrian sighed.

"Of course I want you to get your memory back, but I promised her I wouldn't tell you her name." He said sincerely.

"Is there any news from Clara about that spell?" Raven asked me.

"She has kept me informed but she's still looking for it. Apparently it's very rare and extremely complex." I told her.

"Yeah I expected that." She replied.

"I have an idea." Jack said when he and his brother entered the room. "It's brilliant _and_ amazing." He added. I sighed; this wasn't going to be good.

"Ok Jack, let's hear this brilliantly amazing idea of yours." I said warily.

"Well, if we hit her on the head _really_ hard-" Oh god, I _knew_ I shouldn't have asked.

"Then maybe we can just _knock_ her memories back in to her head?" I finished for him.

"Exactly." Jack added with a smile as his brother rolled his eyes.

"Brother, even _I_ can see that that's ridiculous." Jake told him.

"Well I don't see _you_ coming up with any better ideas." Jack replied sulking. Jake thought for a moment.

"How about hypnosis?" He suggested. For him, that was surprisingly a good idea.

"No." Raven shot it down straight away, Jake looked insulted. I turned to her and raised an eyebrow in question. "I haven't lost _all_ of my memories and there are some things that I would like to keep private. I don't like having people inside my head."

"Always so secretive." Alexander commented. We ignored this as another argument wasn't what we needed right now.

"How are the new recruits doing?" I asked Tom as he entered the room. His main job here is to train new potential agents to find out their talents/strengths and their weaknesses.

"That's why I came up to see you actually. One of the recruits drew something strange. It's a symbol that I don't recognise." He told me and handed me a piece of paper. I analysed it but I couldn't figure out what it was supposed to be either. Its under-layer featured a 13 point star, on top of that was a bird which has a human's intestines hanging from its beak. The bird's wings were spread out behind it as if it was in flight and a sword pierced its heart. The sword had gone through its back.

"That gives a whole new meaning to being stabbed in the back." Jack commented. I watched as Raven peered at it and her eyes widened in shock. She certainly recognised it. I gave her a moment to think over the memory she had just gained back before I spoke.

"Raven, what is this symbol?" I asked her. "What does it mean?"

"Very bad news." She told me. "I should have known." She whispered to herself.

"Raven, what should you have known?" James asked her.

"I was surprised when I found out that Damon had erased my memory. A spell like that is very complex and generally requires at least four spell casters. I just presumed he hired a few powerful witches but I never thought…" She trailed off looking at the drawing. "I need to speak to this recruit." We rushed down stairs to the recruit wing and Tom led us to the recruit's room.

"Genna, we need to speak to you." Tom said to get her attention and she turned to face us. She looked shocked to see all of us, it's not usual for the leaders of the agency to visit a recruit. I saw a flicker of fear in her eyes but she covered it quickly. Raven stepped towards her and she flinched back in fear.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to ask you something." Raven told her and Genna nodded. Raven took the piece of paper from me and held it up for Genna to see. "Do you recognise this?" She asked her. Genna studied it carefully, wanting to be sure. After a moment she shook her head.

"No, should I?" She asked. Raven stepped towards her and peered in to her eyes.

"Please sit down for a moment." Genna did as Raven instructed. "Lift your left foot." She looked confused by Raven's instructions but complied anyway. Raven felt along the surface of the bottom of Genna's foot, none of us knowing what she was looking for. "This may sting a little." Raven told her. She then dug her nail in to the middle of Genna's foot and pulled something out. As soon as it was out she pressed her thumb to the wound and when she removed it Genna's foot was healed.

"What is it?" I asked her, not being able to hold off any longer.

"It's a device that allows the witch, or witches who made it to possess the person that it is inside of and act through them." Raven told us. Everyone, with the exception of Raven, turned to Genna.

"I swear I didn't know that was in my foot, I-" She tried to defend herself.

"Of course you didn't. The witches would've planted that in your foot whilst you were sleeping and would've healed your foot just as I did. You would've been none the wiser when you woke up. They're sneaky like that." Raven explained.

"So you've dealt with these witches before?" Jonathan asked her.

"I've dealt with their kind yes." She replied and sighed. That was not a good sign.

"Would they have planted anything else on her?" I questioned. Raven stepped in front of Genna and put her hands on her shoulders. She closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated.

"She's clean." Raven said stepping away from Genna. "Look, don't worry; it could have been planted on anyone." Raven told Genna, who still seemed shocked.

"Can we presume that the witches live near her?" James asked Raven.

"No, but her address will help. I know how they work; I watched their activities for a year." Raven told us. "Come on, let's go back to the main office, I imagine you will want some more elaboration on that sentence." I nodded and we all headed back over to the other side of the building, allowing Genna to come with us. Recruits aren't usually allowed in the main office until they have passed all their tests, but we figured we might need to question her on the area that she lived in.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please review and let me know what you think!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 18

Raven was the first back at the office, as everyone else was filing in she pinned a map up on a board of what I presumed was the area in which Genna lived. I watched as she marked a house with an X. She took a seat at the front of the room so she was facing us. I watched as she tried to figure out where to start.

"Why don't you begin with why you were observing them?" I offered and she nodded.

"They were becoming too careless with magic and humans were beginning to notice. I sought them out to see what was going on and to figure out if they needed to be stopped." Raven began.

"And by stop am I right to presume you mean kill?" Jonathan asked. She nodded.

"They were starting to be a danger to the secret of magic; I observed them to find out the way they work." She continued.

"Which is how you knew about the device?" I asked to confirm.

"Yes that's right-" She began before James interrupted her.

"But then how did you know about the symbol? I wouldn't have thought they'd be _that_ obvious."

"I was just getting to that. I soon realised that even though they were being ridiculously careless with magic a lot of their discussions about tactics were in private. They had a lot of spells to protect them from being heard and I couldn't disengage any of them without revealing myself." She told us.

"So you infiltrated them." I said realising where this was headed. She smiled.

"Exactly. It was the only way I would be able to find out more about them and, if it had to come to it, the only way that I would be able to gain the information that I would need in order to kill them. But first I had to gain their trust, by that point I was already quite well known in the supernatural community and that made them wary. To start with I revealed a few listening bugs that I had planted myself, but it wasn't enough." She explained.

"I'm surprised they didn't ask you to take down one of their enemies." I mentioned. She raised her eyebrow with an amused look on her face.

"They did. At the time quite a few demons were causing more than a few problems for them. Considering they were on my kill list anyway I didn't really see a problem with taking them out sooner than I had originally planned to." She said.

"You have a kill list?" Alexander asked.

"Yes, and it's forever changing. I have to keep my eye out for anything new as sometimes others take out someone that I was planning to or they start to become a problem themselves." Alexander was about to say something in response to this but Jonathan spoke first.

"Perhaps we should get back to the witches?" He suggested and Raven nodded. "So by infiltrating them you managed to find out the symbol that represented them?" He asked.

"That's right, but it has changed slightly since then. I think that might've been because of me though." Raven replied and I wondered in what way it had changed. It couldn't have been by much; otherwise she wouldn't have been able to recognise it. Before I could ask though Alice spoke up for the first time.

"The sword through the back of the bird." She stated, answering the question in everyone's minds. "You gained their trust, found out the information that you needed and then killed them. But apparently not all of them. The sword represents betrayal." She summed up. Raven looked surprised but nodded.

"I killed all the ones I knew of and no others were ever mentioned in front of me. I stayed with them until they became too dangerous to be allowed to continue living. Even with all the information that I had gathered it was still extremely difficult to kill them off. They were very powerful and I hadn't even witnessed the extent of their powers before I attacked them." She paused for a moment for everything to sink in. "When I found out that Damon had erased my memory I knew he wouldn't have been able to do it by himself. The witches from that coven were the most powerful ones I had ever encountered; they would've easily been able to do something as simple as erase someone's memory." She had a thoughtful expression on her face. "The only thing that doesn't make sense is why they would help Damon."

"Maybe he warned them about you." Jonathan guessed. Raven thought for a moment.

"Well that would certainly explain why they didn't introduce me to the others." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Actually when I did attack them they had this look in their eyes…I think they had arranged with the others for them to show up and help. I thought in the end when they even looked defeated that they had just realised that there was no hope. But maybe…" She trailed off, leaving us to put the last pieces together.

They knew they were going to be attacked, they had arranged for, presumably the more powerful witches in the coven to show up and kill Raven. But as they didn't show up to save their own kind that must mean…

"It's as if they _let_ me kill the weaker ones in their own coven. I knew they were becoming a problem, allowing humans to witness magic." Raven said.

"The leaders of their coven were going to kill them off anyway. So getting you to do it saved them a job." I added and she nodded.

"I cleaned up their mess and that led me to believe that they were no longer a problem. So they could just fly under the radar, under _my_ radar, continue practising magic…" Raven trailed off again.

"And overall becoming stronger and more powerful without you knowing." Alexander concluded.

"So them acting through Genna is them what, sending you a message?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, the message is as clear as day to me. Their message is that even though I've managed to kill Damon, they're still here. Ready to fight." Raven explained.

I watched Raven in the silence that followed. She rested her head back against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Well at least you have more power as well now. And you have the Exitium and the sword that practically makes you unbeatable." I tried to cheer her up a bit. I couldn't handle her looking so… so…defeated.

"It's the 'practically' part that I worry about. They probably already know that I have them, everyone else seems to." She countered. "Which means if they're ready to come out of hiding after all this time and confront me then they are confident they can win, even against the odds." She added.

We spent the next three days going over everything Raven had learnt about the coven. Even though it was only a portion of the members they had, it would give us a place to start. We ordered more weapons and trained harder, Raven sharing any extra knowledge and skills that she thought might help us take down this coven, using the map to try and pin point any possible location of the coven.

We had brought in any extra agents we could and Tom was working hard with the recruits, to ensure they would be ready to take on the witches. Everyone pulled in anyone they could to help and even Maya, Jonathan's wife and their son Michael helped as much as they could.

As the days went by I noticed a slight shift in Raven's behaviour, she appeared, to me at least, slightly worried, which doesn't seem like a good sign.

"What's got you so worried? You're the only one here that can't die." Alexander pointed out. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had noticed. Raven sighed before she began speaking.

"Has it ever occurred to you, that perhaps the reason for me being so worried could be that fact alone?" She asked.

"That doesn't make any sense." Alexander replied. She turned to him annoyed.

"Then I'll try and make it simple for you Alexander. I don't like people dying because of me. Do you think that I haven't noticed the increase in demons that have been after Melanie? Or the fact that Adrian's daughter is also being targeted?" She was right in his face at this point.

"I didn't realise you cared so much." Alexander said, rather taken aback by Raven's ferocity.

"Naturally." Was her only response.

Alexander had taken it upon himself to try not to annoy Raven after that, especially as she seemed stressed as it was at this point. We had all ended up sleeping at the agency recently to save time getting there so we could put more time in to trying to figure out how to take down the witches. As we were settling down to sleep one night Clara transported herself in to the office.

"Please tell me you have good news." I said to her and she looked around at the sleeping agents.

"It certainly seems like you need it. But I'm afraid it's not going well. I managed to find a spell that I'm almost 100% sure would work but….." She didn't finish.

"But what?" I asked impatiently.

"I'm struggling to find enough powerful witches willing to cast the spell. They aren't exactly….fond of Raven. I've been trying to convince them to help but it doesn't seem to be working." I sighed. "And there's another thing. The spell is in several different ancient languages and its proving to be impossible to translate." She explained. "I've tried everything I could think of but nothing works." She added.

"I believe that you've tried everything you can." Raven said from behind us and we turned to face her. "Thank you for putting so much effort in." She added and Clara nodded.

Raven left the room and I filled Clara in on everything that she had missed. When I had finished I wondered around the agency, checking that everything was ok. I reached one room that held Adrian, his daughter and Raven. The young girl stirred and sat up, but couldn't see me in the darkness.

"Raven, are you awake?" She whispered in to the darkness.

"Yes, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I can't sleep, will you sing to me?" The young girl replied.

"Sing?" I haven't seen much that has ever caught Raven off guard but that definitely did. "Uh sure." She went over to where the young girl was and she instantly curled up in Raven's arms as if it was a habit of hers. I could see Raven thinking for a moment before she started singing softly. I couldn't figure out what the words were, it was in a language that I didn't recognise but it seemed to soothe the little girl. I can't blame her really, Raven's voice was incredible, you'd never think that someone who could kill within a blink of an eye could sing so beautifully. By the time the song came to its end the young girl was asleep and Raven was watching her. Adrian stirred beside them and I got the feeling that he wasn't asleep, merely just listening.

"How do you know that song?" Maya asked, shocked and suspicious from beside me in the doorway, I hadn't noticed she was there before she spoke, too entranced by Raven's singing.

Raven turned, noticing the two of us and shrugged, not understanding why Maya was so curious. "I _wrote_ that song, the only person I ever sung it to was Sierra when she was little." She said with tears in her eyes. Raven didn't know what to say, she didn't want to upset the grieving woman any more than she already had.

"It just popped in to my head." Was her only response until she added, "I'm sorry." Maya nodded and walked away before more tears fell.

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><p><strong>AN: Please let me know what you think!<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 19

"Michael, have you heard from Robby recently?" Jonathan asked his son.

It's been almost a week since the coven sent that message to Raven and I think we are almost ready to confront them. We were just sorting out a few last minute things before the attack. One thing being that we needed someone to take over the agency if none of us returned.

"He checks in every few weeks to let me know he's still alive. But apart from that no." He replied.

"Whatever he's working on must be extremely important if he won't even stop by to see his own family." Jonathan commented. "Has he told you what it is-"

"No he hasn't. No matter how many times I ask him. But you don't need to worry about him dad, he'll be fine. And don't take it personally, he hasn't talk to Kelly at all, she's really starting to get irritated with him." Michael said with a laugh.

"Son, I really don't think you should find amusement in the fact that your brother's relationship with his girlfriend is on the rocks." Jonathan commented. Michael shrugged as a reply. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Raven watching them curiously, not bothering to hide the fact that she was listening to their conversation. She thought for a moment then shook her head and shrugged, dismissing whatever her thoughts were. I wasn't the only one who noticed this. "Have you ever met him?" Jonathan asked Raven.

"I don't think so; he just seems familiar is all." Raven told him. Jonathan watched her curiously for a moment before he spoke again.

"What seemed familiar?" He asked her.

"I'm not sure." She concentrated on a memory for a moment before she continued. "Can he transform in to animals?" She asked what seemed like to me to be a very random question. There was a slight pause before Jonathan answered her.

"Yes, a raven. How did you know that?"

"Then I think I might have met him, just not in human form. There's a memory, a brief, vague one but I think it might have been something that Damon hid for good measure but only because he didn't know if it held any importance." Raven explained. "Back when I first lost my memory, I woke up in an unfamiliar place, It was deserted and I didn't know what had happened, or even who I was, someone had left me propped up against a tree and for a long time I just sat there, not really knowing what to do. After a while it started to get dark, and just in the distance I saw a bird approaching. I watched it, there was nothing else in sight as it came towards me and landed on the rock beside me."

"It was a raven." Jonathan guessed. Raven nodded.

"It was only then, looking in to the raven's eyes that I could remember anything about myself. About my life."

"But only about your life since you've been known as Raven?" I asked.

"Pretty much yes, I remember a basic childhood and a few other details, like when I met you for example Adam but apart from that my memory isn't very detailed. Before my memory was wiped I think my identity as Raven was only known by few." She told us.

"And then that was the only thing you remembered, so you just continued down the path you started." I concluded and she nodded.

"So somehow my son knew that your memory had been erased and that transforming in to a raven might help trigger your memory." Jonathan said.

"But how? How would he even know who she was? Or what had happened to her?" Michael was trying to make sense of it.

"Maybe he was already following her." Jack suggested.

"Would he have a reason to be following her?" I asked Jonathan and he shook his head.

"Not that I know of. He didn't say anything about Raven to me." Jonathan answered.

"No answer." Michael said whilst flipping his phone shut after his attempt to get through to Robby.

"Well there is one other way to get him here." Jonathan mentioned.

"That will piss him right off." Michael warned, instantly knowing what his father meant. Jonathan ignored him and concentrated for a moment. After a few seconds Robby appeared in front of us. And he did _not_ look happy.

"What the hell dad? I told you I was busy. And what if I had been with humans huh? I'm pretty sure they would notice someone disappearing right in front of their eyes!"

"Good to see you to son. And we needed you for something. You know Raven right?" Jonathan asked, clearly catching his son of guard. Robby looked at her and nodded. She looked thoughtful, staring in to his eyes.

"Why do you seem so familiar?" She asked him. "I know you were the raven that triggered my memory but there's something else. How old are you?" She asked him.

"That seems like a strange place to start. How old I am doesn't have anything to do with you." He replied. Raven sighed.

"Just answer me. I really don't have the patience to play guessing games." Raven snapped at him.

"Just turned 27." He answered. I watched Raven as she looked in to his eyes. There was a moment of silence. It didn't take long before Raven seemed to figure it out. She looked from Robby, to Adrian and his daughter, to Maya and Jonathan, to Michael and then back to Robby again.

"Sierra." Was all she said to start off with. "You and Sierra are twins. You had heard the rumours about me and I must've looked too clueless for you not to have figured out what had happened when you found me. You then did the only thing that you could think of that might trigger my memory and all because I'm the same age as your sister." There was another moment of silence. "Am I right?"

"Yeah pretty much. I couldn't just leave you there. You even look like her, all except for your eyes. For a moment I even wished you were her, because even with no memory at all, I would've at least _finally_ found her." Raven nodded in understanding.

"Thank you for your help." She said sincerely. She looked in to his eyes and I don't know what she saw but she suddenly said, "I'm going to find her. I promise." Even _she_ looked surprised at her own words; I don't think she even meant to say it. Robby sighed.

"Please don't make promises that you can't keep." Was his reply.

"I wouldn't dream of it." She answered. He looked in to her eyes for a long time and I could tell by the look in his that whatever he saw in them led him to believe Raven. But considering hundreds of people have been looking for Sierra for years, I had no idea how Raven planned to keep her promise.


	20. Chapter 20

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 20

"Raven, what is this?" I asked, picking up a clump of crystals attached to a long piece of thread. She had been working on this for a few days now, we just made sure she ate and had plenty of coffee and then we just left her to it. We knew better by now than to interrupt her.

"I'm working on something to protect the wearer from magical attacks." Raven stated briefly, still engrossed in her work. I looked around the room.

"Well I guess that would explain the pieces of practice dummies that are covering the floor." I joked.

"Oh yeah I meant to clean those up but I'm so close to figuring this out I couldn't tear myself away."

I watched as she poured different ingredients in to a cauldron and wondered how long exactly she had been working on this. It looked like she hadn't slept in days and I hoped that for her health if nothing else that she was, in fact almost done. She heated the cauldron and I couldn't help but think that at that moment she looked exactly like a stereotypical witch. She moved away from her current experiment and analysed a map whilst the ingredients cooked. Raven stared in to the open Exitium and concentrated.

"Trying to find Sierra?" I asked.

"Yes but I think this thing is broken. It says she's here."

"As in she's in this country? Or is it more specific to state?" I questioned.

"It's difficult to tell. It's as if the Exitium wants to say that she is right _here_, as in here in the agency." Raven told me. I thought about that for a moment.

"So you're saying she could be in disguise?" Raven nodded.

"But with her family right here, why would she hide?" It just didn't make sense.

"Maybe she doesn't know." Was Raven's only answer.

How would someone not know their own parents? I mean it's not as if she's never met them before. Perhaps her memory could have been wiped just like Raven's had. In which case that kind of thing happens far more often than we thought. I guess most witches could've carried out the spell; the only reason why it required so many powerful witches to wipe Raven's memory was because of how powerful _she_ is. But then again, any daughter of Jonathan and Maya _would_ be powerful. The fact that everything we found out just lead to more questions was starting to give me a headache.

"It's done. Time to see if it worked." Raven said. She scraped the dried crystals out of the cauldron and clumped them together, looping a chain through the cluster of crystals as she did. She stood up and hung the necklace around a practice dummies' neck. "I hope this works; Tom is getting a little irritated by me destroying all of his equipment." I moved out of the way as I felt magical energy building in the air. Raven shot a bolt of fire at the dummy and when that failed she used a few powerful spells on it but when nothing damaged it a smile spread across her face.

"I combined the ingredients that I used for the charm I gave Melanie to protect her from mental attacks when I made this. With these we could be pretty much unstoppable." She told me. "Now just to change the appearance a bit…." She said as she removed the crystals from around the dummies' neck. After Raven concentrated for a moment the crystal necklace transformed in to the shape of a teardrop. Undoubtedly Raven picked a shape that would make the charm look like any ordinary piece of jewellery. "Now that I know the precise ingredients it won't take me long to make enough for us to have one each, we will all be protected."

"Just make sure you make yourself one also." I told her pointedly. "The reason the witches are so confident to take you on might be because they think they've found a way around you not being able to die."

"Now that would be interesting." Raven said thoughtfully. "We need to round everyone up; it's time to send the witches a message back."

Within an hour we had everyone in the office. We had spent the time gathering all the necessary weapons and Raven had been replicating the protection necklace.

"So how _do_ you plan to send them a message?" Alexander asked.

"It's quite simple really." Raven began. "They'll be suspecting one so I will send it to the hottest witch club in the city and it won't be long before one of them sees it."

"So you know which club is the hottest witch club in the city?" James stated the obvious.

"Yes, and the owner is an old friend of mine so it won't be a problem." Raven explained.

"So what's the message?" Alice asked and Raven held up a piece of paper.

She had drawn a raven with a sword through its back. The writing beneath it was clear _'decide, we'll come to you.' _The drawing was very simple, but only the ones who need to see the message will understand what it means. The witch coven adapted their symbol after Raven betrayed them by adding a sword through a bird's back. Therefore this was the perfect message to send.

"Why not '_I'll _come to you?' Why give away the fact that you've got help?'" James asked.

"They used Genna to send me the message. They know exactly what kind of help I have." Raven replied.

"Are the necklaces finished?" I asked her after a moment. She nodded.

"Yes." She started handing them out. "These should protect us from all magical attacks-"

"_Should?" _ Alexander interrupted.

"There hasn't been much time for testing." Raven continued. "These will not make us indestructible. It won't take long for the witches to figure out why their magic isn't working and it will take even less time for them to find a way around them. It will only give us an element of surprise." She explained.

We spent the next two days finalising strategies and resting up. Well, everyone except for Raven of course, who was still trying to find a way to solve the mystery that was Sierra's disappearance. Robby tried to be subtle when he was watching her but wasn't successful. She didn't seem to mind though as he was close by to ask him anything she needed to know about his twin sister.

We were eating when I noticed the look in Raven's eyes become distant, after a moment her vision ended and she turned to address everyone in the room.

"They've decided. The fight is tonight." She told us. We finished eating and Raven marked a spot on the map. It was a large clearing, perfect for a fight that needed to go by undetected. "This would be the time for anyone to speak up if they were having doubts. No one will think badly of you, this fight will be dangerous and it is doubtful that we will all come back alive." Raven spoke to the room. "You do not need to die for me; you all have families that I want you all to take a moment to think about before we leave. This is the last time anyone will get a chance to back out. This is my fight, not yours." The room was silent. After five minutes with no one backing out Raven nodded. "I appreciate all of your help."

"Don't go getting all mushy on us." Jake joked, lightening the mood. Raven smiled.

"Ok then, suit up." Raven told everyone.

"Aren't you supposed to end with a motivational speech?" Jake asked, smiling.

"I've never been any good at those." Raven said. She was then distracted by something she saw out of the corner of her eye. "What on earth do you think you're doing?" Raven asked genuinely shocked.

"I'm coming with you of course." Adrian's daughter said in a sweet voice.

"No you are _not_; you're only five years old!"

"But you trained me yourself, do you not believe in your own work?" The little girl teased Raven.

"Of course I believe that you are fully able to hold your own in a fight but I'm not about to risk it. You're too young sweetie, I'm sorry but you have to stay here where it's safe." Raven told her.

"That's not fair." She pouted.

"I'm pretty sure Adrian nor your mother would agree with that." Raven replied.

"But-"

"Danielle I said you can't go, it's far too dangerous and you're too young. Please don't argue with me." Raven said. We all stared at her in shock. "What?" She asked, clearly not realising what she just said.

"Raven you just called her-" I began before recognition shone in Raven's eyes.

"Danielle. Yes of course, how did it take me so long to remember?" She seemed to ask herself.

"Do you remember anything else?" I asked her hopefully.

"No I'm afraid not. That will have to do for now, we have to head to the clearing." She said with a pointed look at Danielle, letting her know that she was not included in that.

I hoped that winning this fight would bring Raven's memory back, Danielle looked so hopeful just then and I'd hate for her to be disappointed. But that was for another day. For now, it was time to fight.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review!<strong>

**Thanks**


	21. Chapter 21

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 21

We arrived at the clearing first and were then greeted by more men Jonathan had apparently managed to contact.

"Andrew, thank you for coming." Jonathan said whilst shaking his hand.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Andrew replied.

Whilst the others who accompanied Andrew were introducing themselves I kept an eye on Raven to see her reaction to this. She didn't seem happy about the extra help Jonathan managed to rope in. She met my gaze and seemed to understand the question in my eyes.

"They don't know any of the plans, the formations, what everyone can do. This could blow everything apart." She told me. The introductions came to a halt as everyone turned to Raven.

"That doesn't sound very grateful." Andrew's friend Steven accused. Raven ignored him and turned to Jonathan.

"You may trust them but I don't. Especially _him_." She said with a pointed look at Andrew.

"Raven, these people are my friends and they have come to help us. You have no right to accuse-"

"He led the demons to your family the day your daughter went missing." Raven interrupted and silence filled the air.

"Do you have any proof?" Jonathan asked stiffly.

"Just this." Raven stepped forward and pressed her fingertips to his temples. I wasn't sure exactly what she showed him but when she pulled away Jonathan was still.

"And you're sure about this?" He asked her. She nodded. He turned to Andrew, outrage burning in his eyes.

"Jonathan, you know I wouldn't do anything like that. We have been best friends for years! You're seriously going to believe Raven, of all people?" He questioned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Raven asked calmly. It wasn't a surprise to anyone that he knew of her reputation.

"Well if you trust her so much I presume she told you where she got that necklace from." He retorted.

"We are all wearing them Andrew." Alexander sighed.

"That's not what I was referring to." Andrew snarled, staring Raven down. I watched carefully, knowing full well that Raven's temper didn't last long when she was being accused. Jonathan stepped towards her and clasped the necklace in question in his fist, analysing it carefully. He looked in to her eyes.

"Raven?" She looked disappointed that he was rising to Andrew's bait.

"I was given it when I was young, I took it back from the demon you were holding captive." She explained.

"Who gave it to you originally?" Raven was about to answer, paused and then thought for a moment.

"I…I'm not sure." She answered.

"How coincidental." Andrew commented. Raven glared at him.

"Damon must have erased that part as well." Raven said as she turned back to Jonathan. "But I don't understand, its just a necklace, what importance does it hold to you?" She asked him.

"It has my family crest on it." He replied.

"Oh." Raven looked down at it.

"So now you're trusting a thief instead of one of you closest friends," Andrew chimed in. Raven unclasped the necklace and let it rest in Jonathan's hand. He looked in to her eyes for a moment, deciding who to believe. He turned to Andrew.

"Get out of here, I'll deal with you later." He tried interrupting him but Jonathan continued. "You are the cause of my daughter being missing all these years, you're lucky I'm not just killing you here and now." He threatened. A moment later, Andrew and everyone who came with him disappeared.

"Jonathan I-" Raven began but he stopped her.

"I believe you." Was all he said. She nodded.

We then surveyed the area to check for any traps that had already been left for us by the witches. When walking further in to the clearing we heard a click beneath someone's foot. Everyone froze. Raven's head shot around and soon found the cause for worry. She hurried over to Alexander's side and knelt down by his feet.

"Don't move." She cautioned. Flat against the ground now she analysed the wires of the bomb Alexander just activated. Her hand dashed towards the device quickly and snapped one of the wires. "It's deactivated, you can move now." Alexander hesitated for a moment. "You've come here to help me, I wouldn't say it was ok if there was still danger." After a moment of looking in to her eyes, he lifted his foot. "It was only meant to be a distraction, now for the real danger." All heads snapped to the other end of the clearing, except for Raven, whose eyes were glued to the centre of the clearing. "And so it begins."

Just as she said that approximately ten demons transported in to the exact spot that Raven was watching. We jumped in to action immediately, with Raven taking the lead whilst some held back, our strategic planning preparing us for this. It took us only a few minutes to take out the demons and then all was silent. We re-grouped and waited for the next wave of battle.

"Why send their demon minions in first? Is it really just as a distraction?" James asked of no one in particular.

"In chess the pawns always go first." Jonathan stated.

It was at least five minutes before anything else happened. Then everything seemed to come at us at once. There were four more waves of demons, which we took out just as easily as the first. Thankfully, Raven's crystal necklaces also protected us from their magic. With demon corpses littering the ground it was surely time for the witches to arrive. I was right.

Their figures appeared on the far side of the clearing, all walking in a tight formation with three clear leaders at the front. Their eyes were piercing and were directed at Raven. I studied her face and noticed something flicker in her eyes. I felt a slight press on my mind, almost like a soft knock at a door. I lowered my mental shield to let Raven in.

'_My vision showed four main witches. The leader is missing.'_

'_And this worries you?' _I asked curiously.

'_Absolutely.' _


	22. Chapter 22

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 22

There was a moment of stillness as each side analysed the other. The witches easily had a few hundred people to fight with them. We had a few less than that but I was hoping that Raven's necklaces would give us the advantage we would need. I wasn't worried about the numbers per say, but what Raven had said put me on edge.

I felt a shift in the energy in the air and I could almost see the spell they propelled at us. The necklaces' prevented us from being harmed, by the look in their eyes the witches presumed it was Raven blocking their spell. Then I watched as every witch in the coven started muttering spells under their breath, hoping that Raven couldn't block everything they threw our way. I saw the confusion escalate throughout them when their spells had no effect on us, uncertainty spreading amongst the less experienced of them.

Before they could figure out why their magic wasn't working we charged at them as one, pulling out our weapons as we went. They recovered quickly and fought back strongly. We met them move for move, the Exitium had showed exactly how the witches would come at us. This made it necessary to ignore all of their battle plans and to just make it up as they went along. Some were far better than others at attempting this, I'm not entirely sure that everyone had even figured it out yet.

There was a while where the only sounds were of the battle we were in the midst of. The witch I was fighting was carefully analysing me as we went. She tried a few spells when we first encountered each other but soon seemed to give up, realising it was a waste of her much needed energy. She soon made a mistake though; she seemed distracted, not paying me her full attention. Suddenly her eyes flicked to my neck, or rather what was around it, and her eyes widened.

"It's the-" I sliced my sword through her throat before she could voice her revelation. It hadn't taken her long to figure it out, but the pendants had at least given us a head start so to speak. When her body fell to the ground I looked around the clearing, bodies littered the floor and I couldn't tell whose side they were from. Perhaps that was for the best, I didn't need the distraction of a fallen comrade right now. I took out three more witches that charged at me with their swords drawn, clearly they had been relying on their magic and therefore not adapting their fighting skills when they were preparing for battle.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the three witches that seemed to be leading the coven in to battle surrounding Raven. I hurried over but encountered several more witches before I could get to her. When I did, I chopped the head off of the one that had her back to me. The other two snarled at me in anger but kept their primary focus on Raven.

"It's the necklaces isn't it?" One of them asked Raven.

"I don't know what you are referring to." She replied innocently. The witches laughed. They drew their swords and Raven raised hers. Their eyes widened when they saw exactly what weapon Raven was packing. Clearly, they hadn't done their homework. "Tell me where she is." Raven demanded from the witches, clearly referring to the missing leader. The witches scoffed. Raven stepped towards them, they froze but not of their own accord.

"Cut it out Raven!" One of the witches yelled. Clearly the spell Raven was using only paralysed them from the neck down.

Ignoring her, Raven stepped towards them, pressed her fingers to her temples and concentrated for a moment and then stepped away. Raven released them from her spell and stabbed one, and then the other through the chest, their bodies fell to the ground.

"I have the location." Was all she said. We turned back to the rest of the battle to see it was almost over, we were winning but only just. We joined our people and fought alongside them, taking out the remainder of our enemies. I kept one eye on Raven the best I could, seeing the need for vengeance in her eyes. These people took so much from her and she never even knew. That surely wasn't going to go down well.

I looked around the clearing; I saw none of our enemies still alive. We had won. I heard a cheer and I laughed as I turned to Jake.

"Don't give me that look Adam, we won!" I smiled but it soon faded when I saw Raven's expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's not over, I have to seek out and kill the leader. She holds the key to breaking the spell." She explained.

"Then we will of course accompany you." Jonathan said as a matter of fact.

"No, I shouldn't have let you come here with me today at all. I must finish this alone." Raven told us.

"I wouldn't say you _let_ us do anything. We weren't allowing you to come here alone and the same goes for progressing further." Jake said with his arms crossed, looking very serious.

"You may need us Raven." I pointed out.

"Well someone at least needs to stay to honour the men we've lost. It may have only been a few but they still came here to help me, and it cost them their lives."

"Of course." James began. "I'll notify the families and begin making funeral plans." Raven nodded her thanks.

"That settles it then."


	23. Chapter 23

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 23

Raven transported us to the opening of a dimly lit cave. There were two guards standing at the mouth of the cave staring right at us.

'_We're invisible. I won't be able to cloak us all for long but it will at least get us inside.' _Raven answered the question on my mind, communicating telepathically as to not alert the guards and no doubt sending the same message to everyone we were with.

Raven circled one guard and I followed her lead with the other, we made eye contact and then in unison we snapped both of the guard's necks. We settled their bodies on the ground as to not make a sound and entered the cave.

We walked about a yard before Raven paused. On high alert the others did the same. Raven motioned for us to stay where we were; we watched as she stepped over and crouched under invisible objects.

'_Lasers?' _I asked her telepathically after a moment and she nodded slightly in reply.

After a few minutes she stood up straight and typed some numbers in to a panel on the wall. She nodded for us to follow.

"How did you know the code?" Alexander asked, out loud now that there weren't any guards in the near vicinity.

"They didn't change it from when I knew them last. Which is odd, that would surely be something that I would think they'd chose for me to forget." Raven told us.

We continued through the cave in the same sort of fashion, we would pause when Raven did, she would disarm the trap so we could continue on. After a while of this we could hear voices from around the next corner. We paused and listened for a while, I used my vampire hearing to identify how many heartbeats there were, I held up three fingers to notify Raven of this, she nodded. She pointed to me and Tom to follow her. We rounded the corner and took out the three guards without a problem.

It took an hour to get through all of the winding tunnels and in to the main area of the witches lair. Here the cave opened up and we had at least fifty guards charge at us, weapons drawn. We weren't prepared for this, the Exitium didn't warn us, but then again we didn't know that we would have to come here. We were all still tired from our previous battle, and these guards were fully prepared for our arrival. We gave them everything we could and their bodies soon littered the floor.

"How could they see us?" Alexander asked Raven.

"They must have some kind of magic block up; my best guess would be that the necklaces won't work either. Let's just hope they haven't completely blocked magic, something tells me we may need it." She told us.

"Wouldn't blocking all magic hinder them?" Jonathan asked.

"They may be able to specify it so the spell only blocks our magic." Raven paused for a moment, thinking. "These are the most powerful witches I've ever encountered, and their power has more than likely intensified since I was last here."

"What does that mean for us?" Tom asked.

"We need a plan." Raven turned to us. "Any ideas?"

We looked at each other, thinking.

"Clara, any spells you know that could help us?" Jonathan asked her.

"None powerful enough to counteract theirs." She replied.

"Explosives." Raven said suddenly. We looked at her questioningly. "If we set explosives we can cause panic and chaos, hopefully enough for the witches to put their energy in to keeping this place standing rather than fighting us and blocking our magic."

"How many do we need?" Tom asked as he searched through our bags, checking supplies. Raven thought for a moment.

"There are six main tunnels, but I don't know if they would have extended them or not. They all spiral off to living quarters, that one there should lead to the guards' rooms." She nodded her head to the one off to our left. "If we follow that one we should get to the most guarded area where the leader will be." Raven nodded to another tunnel.

"Would she have any reason to be anywhere else?" I asked, picking her brain.

"Providing it's the same as it used to be then no, the most powerful witch never leaves that sector, for safety." I nodded, we were basing a lot on Raven's tampered memory, but it would take too long to search the entire compound. "If we set two explosives in all of the tunnels as far down as we can without raising suspicion, including the one we go down once we've entered then the leader will be completely cut off from the rest of the coven, she will only have the guards that are already with her. We should be able to take them out but there is the risk of her escaping whilst we do so." Raven explained her plan.

"So we head in, get a visual on the leader, trigger the explosives, then Raven can go after the queen witch whilst the rest of us take out the guards. Raven can you take her out alone or will you need help?" Jonathan asked. Raven shakes her head.

"I have no idea if we will have enough power to take her out." Raven said, looking sceptical.

"Can you combine our powers with yours without it affecting us?" I asked her. Raven looked at me with her eyebrow raised questioningly.

"I have a spell that can do exactly that." Clara said as she fished a piece of paper out of her bag and handed it to Raven.

"You sure this will work?" She asked Clara, she answered with a nod. "Is everyone ok with this?" She asked as she looked around the remaining of us. We all nodded. She cast the spell, I wasn't sure if it had worked as it protected us from being affected.

"Did it-?" I began but Raven nodded, confirming its success.

"Excellent, so everyone knows the plan?" Jonathan looked amongst us. "Good. Let's do this."

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><p><strong>AN: Please review and let me know what you think!<strong>

**Thanks**


	24. Chapter 24

**Author's note: For those of you who read this from when I first started writing it, I apologise for the insane delay in finishing this. I hope everyone likes this chapter.**

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><p>Out of The Darkness<p>

Chapter 24

Within an hour the explosives were set, it wouldn't have usually taken so long but with us trying to remain undetected, the amount of tunnels there were and us not wanting to split up in case we were attacked, the time soon went by. We were heading down the last tunnel, towards the Queen when we ran in to a problem. There were guards standing on both sides of the tunnel at regular intervals. Taking them out wouldn't be the issue, doing so without being heard, spotted or them warning the others would certainly cause us problems.

I looked between Raven and Jonathan, wondering who would take the lead. Without a moment of hesitation the whole team disappeared from my view. After a moment of confusion they once again returned, I looked questioningly at Raven.

'_I've made us invisible to everyone except each other, they may have charms to block our powers in the main sector but it's the only thing that could help us gain an advantage.'_ Raven told us telepathically.

We followed the tunnel until Raven signalled us to stop, we set the last explosives right by the guards at the entrance to that part of the cave. We snuck past the guards, keeping especially vigilant and trying not to make a sound. When we were well away from the entrance we crouched behind some rocks to shield ourselves from the explosion. Raven moved further along to ensure the Queen couldn't escape before she got to her. We all paused for a moment to check everyone was ready before triggering the explosives.

The noise was almost painful to my ears as the structure completely crumbled in on its self. There were panicked screams and guards rushing towards the Queen, bodies of their people littering the floor and halting their progress. As soon as the explosion happened we leapt in to action, still invisible for a short while giving us a further element of surprise. I saw Raven head in the direction of the most powerful witch there, but I couldn't keep my eyes on her long enough to see if she reached her, I needed to concentrate on my own fight.

Raven was right, there was no longer a block on our team's magic, and our necklace charms worked to an extent but the witches we were fighting figured out what was blocking them much faster than those in the clearing did. The room filled with dust and smoke from the explosions and it was making it difficult for even me to see. We fought our way through, the explosions providing a more than adequate distraction to knock the witches of their game. Whilst I was fighting I could just about over hear Raven's conversation with the witch leader.

"Blowing up my compound, nice touch." Raven didn't reply, knowing the witch was trying to distract her. "I see you weren't brave enough to come alone, although I do see the others managed to minimise your numbers quite significantly."

"Stop talking and fight." Raven challenged.

"Maybe you should surrender before we kill the rest of your _friends_. I wonder if they would still stand by you if they knew the truth." The witch taunted her.

"They know who I am." Raven said through her teeth as she swung her sword at the leader, the witch dodged the blade.

"That's not what I meant, think about it. Don't you think getting in her was just a little too easy? We even changed the code back so it was the same as when you were here." Raven paused for a moment before continuing to fight the witch.

"What are you talking about, why would you want to make it easy for us to get in here so I could kill you?" I was just as confused as Raven. I listened more intently whilst continuing to fight the witches that came at me. The leader was right, it was easy to get in here, if they knew we were coming they should've cleared out, protected their leader at all costs.

"You're not seeing the big picture Raven, but you will." The leader smirked and stood still, she made it clear that she wasn't intending to fight or speak any further about this 'bigger picture'. Raven raised her sword, and stabbed the witch through the chest, when she drew her sword back, the witches' body fell to the ground.

After a brief moment Raven fell to her knees, holding her head with both her hands, clearly in pain, likely in result of the spell breaking. I knew I had to get to her, she was defenceless like this. I charged in her direction but witches blocked my way, the fall of their leader seemed to give them more determination to kill us. The strangest part was that none of them went for Raven, they charged at us but were careless when fighting, seemingly with no strategy. With them fighting like this it didn't take long for us to kill the rest of them, I looked around and bodies covered the floor. I made my way to where Raven was lying on the ground, her eyes closed.

"Is she-?" Jonathan couldn't quite fully ask the question. I crouched down and let out a sigh of relief.

"She's alive, just passed out, most be a side effect of the spell being lifted." I lifted her in to my arms and looked to Clara who nodded, and began reciting a spell that transported us back to the agency. From there I carried an unconscious Raven to the infirmary where she could rest.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review!<strong>


	25. Chapter 25

Out of The Darkness

Chapter 25

In the first few hours after we returned to the agency, we took note of everyone who had died, so we could hold funerals and contact their families, all while Raven rested.

"Were you listening to the conversation between Raven and the leader as well?" Jonathan asked me, it was just the two of us in my office, Jonathan being the only one who had spoken in a while. I nodded in response to his question. "What do you think she meant, is this all really over?"

"I don't know, there are many things that don't quite fit, I just can't piece them together. Hopefully when Raven wakes up she can fill in some of the gaps." I answered. Just then Jack knocked and entered my office without waiting for a response. I knew instantly something was up, I've never seen him look so serious.

"Both of you are going to want to see this." We followed him in to the main meeting room where each computer screen was lit up with Damon's face.

"What's going on?" I asked, not understanding.

"If you are seeing this, it means myself and the witch coven are dead. This is a computerised version of my memories, and is a result of a spell so anything you ask will be answered with the truth." Damon spoke.

"Why would we believe anything you say?" Jonathan demanded.

"I'm dead, I have no reason to lie." Damon responded.

"I've identified and checked the spell used, he's telling the truth." Clara explained.

"Why was it so easy to defeat the witches?" I asked first.

"We wanted Raven to recover her memories, even if we had to die." Damon replied instantly. "She has built up relationships with you all, and the truth will destroy that."

"How is Raven connected to my family?" Jonathan asked.

"Raven is Sierra Jonathan, she's your daughter." Adrian told him, he had been holding on to this secret for so long, he must've wanted to be the one to tell him.

"Why didn't you say anything? We've been searching for her for 21 years!" Jonathan was outraged.

"She didn't even know herself, think about what you know of Raven, if we confronted her with this truth before she was ready she would've ran, and you know it. Are you telling me you'd be able to see her each day knowing she's your daughter without saying anything?" Adrian explained and we all knew he was right.

"Why did you attack my family?" Jonathan returned to questioning Damon.

"Perhaps I shouldn't be the one to tell you that." He nodded to a point behind us, turning we saw Raven standing in the doorway.

"Raven, do you have your memories back?" I asked, she nodded and we waited for her explanation.

"Thinking about lying dear? Notice the spell that's been used here, if you lie, I'll call you out on it." Damon taunted her. Raven looked cautious, and I wondered what could be so bad that she thought she couldn't tell us the truth.

"All those years ago, I summoned him." She said quietly, not meeting any of our eyes. Jonathan took a step towards her.

"You summoned a demon to kill your own family?" He whispered in a dangerously calm way.

"No! Only to scare, no one was supposed to get hurt. I had a spell that was supposed to stop them, but Damon brought more demons than what was agreed, and the spell didn't work." She tried to explain.

"Of course he double crossed you, he's a demon!" Raven remained quiet. "So, what after it failed you just left? Why did you even do it in the first place?"

"You and Maya were going to strip my powers, I thought if you saw I could be of use you'd changed my mind. I knew you wouldn't believe me after it all went wrong, especially after Maya died, so I left."

I could feel the anger radiating off of Jonathan, and the confusion from everyone else in the room. Jonathan took a few more steps closer to Raven, and she looked like she wanted to escape.

"Don't you _dare_, after everything we deserve an explanation." Jonathan glared at her.

He took hold of her arm and brought her further in to the room, directing her to sit down.

"What about Andrew? Was what you showed me the truth or were you just trying to turn me against someone I trusted?" Jonathan questioned.

"He did lead the demons to our home, the demons roped him in, he did not know of my involvement. For me to be the hero, there had to be an enemy, there wouldn't have been a way for the demons to get in otherwise." I couldn't believe what she was saying, she went to all that trouble when she was only six years old, just so she could keep her powers.

"What happened next?" Jonathan demanded.

"I stayed away for a while, waited for the heat to die down." Her eyes flicked to me briefly. "Then I let Adam find me, gained information on other demons whilst I was here. He started becoming a target because of me, Damon sending his demon followers after the agency, knowing that I wasn't going to let him get away with what he did. I found information on a demon with enough power to keep Damon away from me. I traded the necklace with our family crest on it and in return he taught me how to fight, how to use my powers to kill." She paused for a moment so we could take it all in. I felt betrayed, all those years ago she had used me to gain information.

"In the years that followed I began hunting down demons in order to get to Damon. I became Raven, changed my features to get rid of my pink eyes that would help identify me. I was coming close to killing Damon when he erased my memories." She paused again before continuing.

"I don't know exactly how Robby found me but when I told you that part before I was telling the truth. He chose the form in which to approach me in. This triggered my memories of being Raven and my goal to kill Damon."

"Why did you come back to the agency?" I asked her.

"What I told you when I arrived was the truth, I did not come here to cause trouble. Although I did think the resources you had access to would help me get Damon."

"What about us?" Adrian asked with their daughter Danielle by his side.

"None of that was a lie, I really do love you, both of you." Raven took a step towards them, but as she did, Danielle took a step back, tears in her eyes. The two of them transported out of the room, clearly not wanting to hear any more. Raven stared at the place they used to stand.

"Sit back down." Jonathan demanded, she obeyed.

"The question you want to ask yourselves now, is what you should do with her. I mean you can't kill her, but are you really going to let her get away with all this?" Damon told us, with everything Raven just said, I had almost forgotten the computerised version of his memories was here. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alexander leave the room, and return again a few minutes later with a small wooden chest.

"Is there anything she hasn't told us?" I asked him. Raven looked down at her hands in her lap, too ashamed to even look at us.

"Nope, the fact that she's betrayed each and every one of you just about covers it. I do have something to say to _you_ though Raven." She looked up at the screen. "You may have killed me, but I've done so much more to you. I have taken away everyone who you've ever cared about, they'll never trust you again. So what I'm trying to say is, I win." He gloated with a smile.

"I have an idea of what we could do with her." Alexander spoke up. He placed the wooden chest on the table in front of Raven. He opened it revealing cuffs attached to chains. Raven clearly recognised them instantly as she shot out of her seat and backed away, fear clear in her eyes. I took a step closer and examined the metal cuffs, they had symbols engraved on them, ones that would block the wearer from using any magic, even Raven. I looked to Jonathan, she was his daughter, so ultimately it was his decision.

"I think there are other things to consider here." Clara began. "I know what she did to your family was horrible Jonathan. But she was a child and clearly feels terrible about it. She's done a lot of good since, saved lives, killed powerful demons-"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Alexander interrupted. "You've been against her since she got here."

"She also saved my life." Clara stated.

"I'll wear the cuffs." Raven's statement silenced the room.

"You think that will make up for what you've done?" Jonathan quizzed her.

"No, but it's the only thing I can do, to show how sorry-"

"You think _sorry_ can fix this?" Jonathan's anger rose.

"No! Of course I don't! But I've made so many mistakes nothing can fix what I've done. If me being in a cell will help the situation even in the slightest that's what I'll do." She sat back down, looking at the cuffs in front of her.

"You chose magic over your family before, why not now?" Michael asked. Raven said nothing, I'm not sure there really was anything she could say.

I looked to Jonathan and he nodded. I stepped forward and secured the cuffs around Raven's wrists. As soon as the cuffs locked together Raven gasped in pain as her magic was being drawn from her body in to the chains. Her eyes changed from brown to the pink that was known for Jonathan's family, her disguise no longer possible without magic.

I took her down to the cells and locked her in, even after everything I still didn't want to do this, I wanted to give her a chance to make things right. I could see the pain the cuffs were causing her, I wanted to take them off, to comfort her. I couldn't imagine what was going on in her mind at that moment, she would've only just found about her betrayal towards her family when her memories were retuned. But freeing her wasn't my choice, I was not the one who she wronged the most, and she needed time to think over what she had done. I turned to walk away.

"Adam, I really am sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen." I paused with my back to her for a moment.

"I believe you." I said before I walked away, and left her alone in the cell.

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><p><strong>Author's note: It took me a long time to figure out how to finish this story, as I hadn't planned the how I wanted the ending. A few readers had figured a few things out, so I hope everyone enjoyed the ending to this story.<strong>

**Please review and let me know what you thought.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing.**


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